


Where There's Life, There's Hope

by kbj1123



Series: Wonder Woman & Captain America [3]
Category: Captain America - All Media Types, DCU, Justice League - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Wonder Woman - All Media Types, infinity - Fandom
Genre: Crossover Pairings, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Sex, Eventual Smut, F/M, First Time, Fluff and Smut, Hurt/Comfort, Marvel Universe, One True Pairing, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Romance, Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-15
Updated: 2018-05-18
Packaged: 2019-05-07 04:41:01
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 32,726
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14663517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kbj1123/pseuds/kbj1123
Summary: Eighteen months after Civil War, Steve, Natasha, Sam, Vision, and Wanda are on the move. They remain loosely in contact but only meet rarely to compare notes before they scatter again and again. Meanwhile, Diana Prince has been whisked away from Themyscira without much explanation other than, "A storm is coming," from Hermes. She hadn't seen Steve since he washed up on Themyscira over an entire human lifetime ago. She had barely stopped mourning Hippolyta's curse on him, making him forget her, and the reality that by now, he should be dead. But, there he is. And he doesn't remember her. And then Thanos comes along.Note: most of the action takes place before Infinity War and then skips to the major battle at the end of Infinity War. Aside from Captain America and Wonder Woman, the other listed characters have minor roles in this story. If you haven't seen the movie and want to avoid spoilers, hold off on reading this (but please come back afterward and read!).





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Friends, I have taken the Wonders Never Cease series down, except for the few stand-alone stories. I've just completed the revision and novelization of that series with original characters. Thank you so very, very much for all of your support for the trilogy, and for every kind and lovely comment you made. In its place, I've begun to re-imagine Steve and Diana in a different context. I hope you enjoy this story as well. As always, comments and kudos are appreciated!

Czech Republic, 18 Months after Civil War…

When Diana saw him on the café porch, she did a double-take. This was why Hermes had whisked her from Themyscira to Man’s World yet again, surely. Because Hippolyta certainly wouldn’t have come up with the idea on her own. World War Two had been over for more than seventy years. That was supposed to be the end of things on this Earth, just like the war's conclusion a few years ago on Earth-Two was the end of her time there. Although, Diana had chosen to remain on Earth-Two, justifying to herself that her new friends had still needed her. Really, going back to Themyscira would have given too much time to dwell on the past. Man’s world, in all its incarnations, was self-destructive and made her sad. Diana was weary of mourning. And, after more than seventy years, it was still an effort not to miss him every day. They’d only known one another for two months. In her life, it was the blink of an eye, but it was long enough to know she didn’t want to be without him. Diana had done her best to move on, but hadn’t forgotten any of it.

He was a few tables over. Diana almost didn’t recognize him with the beard. He wasn’t going to remember her, probably. Hippolyta wanted her daughter to have nothing to do with men. Every amnesia spell she could conjure was placed over his unconscious body while the handmaidens kept Diana unaware and occupied. Because Diana had begged. She had pled with her mother. She beseeched Athena, Artemis, and especially Aphrodite for mercy on her heart. 

Diana wanted to join him, not replace him. Steve Rogers had been delivered to Themyscira by Poseidon Himself, with instructions to help him heal quickly and save the world from itself. No man had ever been permitted to set foot on Amazonian land for thousands of years. He was the exception. She was enthralled. By the time he was ready to return to the War, Diana was more than enthralled. She was, although she didn’t know enough to name it that, in love. She thought he must be long dead by now. But here he was. Perhaps time loosened the spells. Maybe he would remember. Diana chanted a soft prayer to the Fates.

Without consciously making the decision to do so, Diana was on her feet and hurrying toward the table. Diana always went to him; she always ran to him. She was a few feet away when the woman sat next to him, though. That woman had shoulder-length blonde hair and she was fit and pretty. He might be committed to someone else. Diana froze in her tracks, unsure. On the other hand, they both looked pretty unhappy and wary. And they weren’t wearing rings. So, there was no time like the present. By the time Diana had gathered up her courage and tamped down her excitement though, they’d paid their bill and left. They left in opposite directions. Diana ran.

“Steve?! Steve?!”

Steve stopped on the stone sidewalk and tensed his muscles. Then he turned around. Even though he had on dark, mirrored sunglasses, Diana could tell Steve was wary. “Do I know you?” His mouth was a thin, pinched line and, judging by the lines that crept from the frame of his glasses, his eyes narrowed. Diana didn’t know what to say to that. There wasn’t an obvious or easy answer. So she stared mutedly for a few seconds. She hadn’t thought the introductions part through. “I think you have me confused with someone else,” Steve said carefully, and turned to leave.

Well, that went just perfectly. Diana ambled back to the run-down hotel. Steve shouldn’t have been here. He definitely shouldn’t have looked like he’d only aged about ten or so years. But she saw him up closer. It was him. Diana stopped walking for a moment, clenched her hands, and looked up at the gray sky. “Why would you do this to me?!” she shouted to no god in particular. It garnered a few stares. Her heart hurt and her stomach felt heavy.

Diana flopped onto the threadbare and lumpy chair in the lobby and scrolled on her phone for a while. Steve had been busy. She skimmed over what Wikipedia said about his life thus far. Steve must have suffered. He surely felt untethered, maybe even traumatized. The War wasn’t that long ago for him. Diana imagined the content of the blank spaces, the things Wikipedia didn’t mention. This was her mother’s fault. Steve suffered and was denied his destiny because her mother didn’t want her to fall in love with a man.

Diana slipped her phone back in her bag and stood. Steve was in the lobby. He was staying here. Her heart raced a little bit and her stomach twisted. It was another chance. Diana silently thanked Aphrodite and ran after him as he stepped into the elevator and the doors began to close. “Wait! Please!”

Steve held the door open. “Thanks, hi…again,” Diana panted, smiling and pretending to be breathless. Steve smiled at her and nodded. He had that same, straight posture and the same soft, curious eyes. Right now they darted around, assessing. Even his scent was the same. Steve smelled like a forest in the summertime. There was a clean, mossy quality to him, layered with mint. It was him. 

“We meet again!” 

He nodded and watched the elevator numbers light up. 

“I’m sorry about before…you look like someone I used to know. I didn’t mean to anger you.”

Steve let his shoulders drop. He must have thought she was spying on him. He turned and smiled politely. “No problem, Miss.” They got off at the same floor and headed down the same hallway. Their rooms were across from each other’s. Steve gave her a real smile, the one that used to make her chest flutter. “Looks like we’ll be seeing a lot of each other. My name actually is Steve, by the way. Steve Rogers.” He extended his hand to her.

Her muscles unclenched a little. Diana took his hand and it was so warm, as usual. “Diana. Diana Prince.”

Something in Steve’s eyes changed. They brightened very briefly and his brows slanted toward each other the way they sometimes did when he was trying to remember something. “It’s nice to meet you, Diana Prince.”

A memory flickered through Diana’s mind: the way his hand folded over hers when they walked down the beach or through the jungle. It was soft, and nearly enveloped hers. It hadn’t changed. Diana wondered if he saw the vision as well. For just a second or two, his face registered recognition or deja-vu. Or she hoped it did.

His smile softened. “Well, I’ll be seeing you around, probably, Diana.”

Diana detected a hint of hope in his voice, although she understood that had to be her imagination, too.

“Apparently it’s meant to be!” She felt herself warm and released his hand.

Steve chuckled and the flecks of gold that softened into the blue edges of his irises sparked. Diana had missed that. She was shivering again.

Steve opened the door to his room, then paused. “Say, if it’s, um, I’m not really good at this but if it’s meant to be anyway, would you uh, would you like to grab dinner later? There’s one not very good café down the street where most of the menu is bilingual.”

The shivering in her belly morphed into a hundred butterflies that flew out from her center and into her whole body. “I’d like that a lot, Steve.” Diana probably smiled a little more widely than she should have.  


Steve blushed just a tiny bit. Diana hadn’t forgotten about that, either: the way he’d sometimes get flustered around her if they’d just shared a moment of hope and connection. That kind of relationship, the kind involving intimate touch and affection, made him nervous. 

Steve cleared his throat. “I’ll knock on your door around six,” he said, and hurried into his room.

***

“I don’t get out much,” Steve offered as they left the restaurant. It was meant as an explanation and apology for his disjointed conversational skills. Diana was really easy to be around. Steve trusted her almost instantaneously, but he didn’t trust why he trusted her. Just this afternoon, Natasha once again warned him that spies were everywhere and to be careful. As if he didn’t know that. It was the reason for the beard and the longer hair. It was the reason he, Natasha, Sam, Vision, and Wanda remained proximate, but not together. It was the reason why every four weeks at most, they fled somewhere else. For that matter, it was the reason why for the past year and a half his repertoire of moods ranged from paranoid, to grumpy, to indifferent.

Maybe Steve just wanted to trust her because she was so pretty. Beautiful, really. He’d never seen that combination of nearly indigo-colored eyes and absolutely black, wavy hair. Watching her mannerisms and facial expressions made him remember his portrait drawing class during his just over one year in art school. Her facial features were elegant and looked like they matched that golden ratio proportionally. Diana had an almost unnaturally perfect face. And her expressions were open, as if she had nothing to hide. But, Steve had learned early on when he woke up in this century that pretty much everyone had something to hide. Maybe she’d had plastic surgery to look like that. Maybe Diana was running away, too.

Regardless, they didn’t go back to the hotel right away. They took a walk through the narrow, stone streets, past the darkened, closed shops, wandering around and talking. Diana’s laugh was melodic and genuine when he said something she thought was funny. The first time Steve hadn’t meant to be funny, but then he started searching around for anything to make her do it again. Steve wanted to see her again. It was unadvisable. He was only going to be here for another week or two at most. At their last check-point, Natasha and he had already agreed at a time and place to get on their stolen plane and find another place to hide. Hiding the plane, whose cloaking mechanisms were completely shot, was a challenge. Being on the run was bad enough; he didn’t have time for this.

But Steve spent every day with Diana. By mid-week, they came out at the same time every morning for breakfast. She went running with him. He slowed his pace for her to keep up, but she didn’t seem to mind going pretty fast. Diana liked her coffee with a lot of cream in it. He’d joked that it was really just coffee-laced milk. Her eyes shone over the lip of her cup as she pursed her lips over the edge and took another sip. Steve liked her mouth. It was even and slightly full, and her smile was infectious to him.

By the beginning of the following week, Diana had become part of Steve’s routine, just as surely as waking up at exactly 0500 hours, brushing his teeth, running, showering, shaving, and breakfast. Well, he didn’t shave much anymore so much as trim a little. In a few days, Steve was sure he was going to feel bereft. He liked Diana. He liked her a lot. He knew nothing about her, though, not really. Natasha would have had the entire down-low by now. 

“So you never really said what brought you here. Are you American?” Steve flushed and looked down. “I mean…it’s just…the slight accent.”

“I’m from Greece." Diana smiled tolerantly. Actually she didn’t seem bothered at all. Steve was never sure what was rude to ask women and what was okay. Some things, like age or weight were obvious, but there was a lot of gray area. “I’m on an extended, indeterminate leave from duties, home and family,” Diana told him. “I’m just sort of wandering, I suppose.”

Steve felt something in his chest soften. He was right. “Yeah, I know the feeling. Me too.” He stirred his coffee even though the sugar was already well-dissolved. Diana had ordered it for him while he was in the restroom the first time they had breakfast together. She knew exactly how he liked it. Or really she just guessed, maybe based on other stuff he ate. 

“Look there’s something you need to know about me,” he said. Diana put down her coffee cup and folded her hands on the table. “I’m trying not to call attention to myself but I’m Captain America. Or I was, anyway. I’m hiding. My colleagues and I move around a lot because we’re wanted.”

Diana didn’t bolt. She didn’t even flinch. “I guessed who you were,” she said evenly. “Not right away, but I guessed.”

Steve wasn’t sure whether to be relieved. What if she was actually spying on him, like Sharon had been? He even kissed Sharon before he took off, and then she turned on him. Sharon had used the kiss as an opportunity to place a tracker on him.

“You never said what it is that you do.” One thing Steve was good at was figuring out when people were lying. Unfortunately, it happened a lot. 

So he was surprised to believe Diana when she said, “Right now, just travelling. I have a strained relationship with home as well. As I said, I guess I’m feeling my way around.” He waited for her to say more.

The corners of his mouth twitched upward involuntarily. Diana extended her arm across the table with her palm facing up. “I’ll be sad not to see you anymore when you go. I wish you needed an extra person.”

Steve hadn’t expected that. Diana’s eyes were wide and a little sad. She meant it. “Me too,” he replied, looking at her hand. Steve reached over and put his palm over hers, and squeezed it gently. There was no way. His life was complicated and dangerous, and it would be beyond irresponsible to drag a pretty, innocent stranger into things just because they’d gone on some dates and he liked her. No one could be responsible for her safety, and her inevitable death would be on his head alone. That would be even worse than missing her.

They lingered outside their doors when they returned to the hotel. They’d held hands for the entire five blocks on the way back. Steve didn’t want to let go. He swallowed hard and looked at her. Her cheekbones were high, and her jaw tapered gracefully to a small, slightly pointed chin. This was nuts. What the hell was he thinking? 

Diana smiled at him and his resolve crumbled. Steve knew that the minute he walked inside, he’d be calling Natasha and brainstorming a way to take Diana up on the request. He didn’t want to say goodbye. Not tonight, not in a week. Steve knew her for a week. Maybe he was just lonely. It felt like they’d known each other all their lives.

“Will you still be here tomorrow?” Diana’s voice was tentative and quiet.

Steve nodded his head. “Absolutely.”

“Good.” Diana smiled shyly. They both stepped forward and bumped elbows and wrists clumsily until they found a good position for a hug.

That’s when Steve knew just how much trouble he was in. Diana was delicate and soft, and she smelled like the beach: driftwood, salt, some kind sweet flower, maybe jasmine. Steve held onto her and they both relaxed, like they’d done this a hundred times before instead of just this once. He wanted to hang on and inhale everything about her. After just a week, Diana was familiar and important. She kissed his cheek and broke off the hug. She smiled up at him, and that was the sucker punch to his gut. Diana was sweet and beautiful and Steve was done for. Saying goodbye for good was going to be too hard even for him. He’d have to talk to Natasha for sure, and to Sam. 

“So I’ll see you later on.” Diana blushed. She disentangled herself and walked into her room.

***

Diana lay in bed and stared at the damp, peeling paint on the ceiling. She had to find a way to stay with him. It wasn’t just for selfish reasons. Steve hadn’t aged. She knew his official story by now. There was no way that Steve and the Avengers were not involved in her mission somehow. The closer Diana was, the more she’d know. But, she admitted to herself, mostly it was selfish reasons.

The last time Diana had seen him, Steve was lying face-up on a small, one-person boat. Diana held his hand and they interlaced their fingers. She peered over the edge to see his face once more. One, then two, then several tears dropped over his face from her's. 

“Don’t cry,” Steve had begged. “I’ll come back. I’ll find you.” 

Diana knew it was unlikely even before she found out about her mother’s meddling. Steve lifted her hand and pressed it to his lips. He looked sad as well. His words were optimistic but his eyes were full and wet, and his smile was forced.

Diana had brushed the hair from across Steve's forehead and kissed it. “Please come back,” she pled. She wanted that more than she ever wanted anything. Her mother gently and firmly pulled her hand from his. Steve extended his fingers to her as they disentangled. The second of separation, Diana felt torn apart. They’d only ever held hands, and hugged a few times and she knew there had to be more. Diana wanted something she’d never even done before. Hippolyta’s servants pulled her aside and her heart dropped into her stomach. When Diana turned around again, Steve was gone.


	2. Chapter 2

“We need another week,” Sam told Natasha and Steve. They sat on a bench, all three of them, in a park. It was late afternoon and the park was relatively empty. Steve liked this place. Although it had some modern facilities like public restrooms and a walking trail, the park was mostly just trees, benches, and weeds, and was old and surrounded by even older buildings. Right now the sky was gray, but a few rays of pale light streamed between buildings. He wished he could have spent more time here. Steve wished he could have just about any kind of routine at this point. “The plane still needs some work,” Sam explained. Steve smiled to himself and glanced down at his watch.

“Got a hot date?” Natasha half-joked, irritably.

“As a matter of fact, I need to talk to you about that,” Steve rubbed the back of his neck. It was warm.

Sam and Natasha both raised their eyebrows. “I think we can trust her,” Steve kept his voice as even as he could. “I was hoping maybe you could meet her, and then, um…” he ran his hand through his hair. “And then, uh, consider taking her with us. She wants to help us if she can.”

Steve’s friends looked at each other and then back at him. He knew they thought he’d lost his mind. Sam leaned around, across Natasha to look at him, widening his eyes. “Are you saying you have a girlfriend and you want her to run away from the federal government with us? On a very visible plane which our government’s military is to shoot down on sight? Really?” Sam sounded incredulous, and Steve thought, rightly so.

“Well when you put it that way, uh, yes?”

Natasha shook her head. “If this weren’t deadly serious I’d be laughing at you right now, you moron. You know better than this. We said no attachments, for one thing. For another, even if she’s totally on the up and up, her presence and lack of defenses makes her a gigantic liability. And she has no idea what kind of life she’s asking for. It’s not like she can easily leave and resume her life if things don’t work out between you. I mean, you have a small and highly unimpressive track record.” 

Steve’s stomach knotted and he let his shoulders shrug. Natasha was probably right. But Steve wished she wasn’t. 

“Even if she’s the right one, it’s by far and away the wrong time. C’mon Steve, be realistic.”

“She’s a good interpreter. She knows over a dozen languages. She’s good with technology, too. She can do stuff to help.” Steve knew that he sounded like a little kid begging to keep the stray puppy he’d found on the street. “Look, just meet her. Can you do that much for me before you say no?”

Sam and Natasha exchanged glances again. “Fine,” Sam said. “But only because you have the worst love life in the history of anyone, and I feel sorry for you.”

When Steve thought about it that night, there was no rational reason whatsoever to trust Diana. He’d been attracted to women before, and they too were sweet, intelligent, and possessed a kind of inner strength. And the two times Steve had ever kissed a woman on purpose were the last time he saw them. Superstition aside though, he had known Diana for under two weeks. It felt like longer than that. It felt like Diana knew him better than anyone except maybe Bucky.

As they prepared to part for the evening, they hugged goodbye in front of their rooms. Without letting go, he had asked if Diana would mind meeting his colleagues. “Are you really sure you want to come with us? I don’t think you realize what you’re signing on for,” he’d said for the third or eleventh time. “And they are going to scrutinize you. They might not even be very nice, even though I’ll be right there.”

Diana had pursed her lips and knitted her brows for a moment. It was the cutest contemplative stare Steve ever seen, and when he caught himself thinking that, he reminded himself not to be a sap. But after a few moments Diana said, “Yes. Absolutely. I want to come with you.” There was a vaguely imploring tone in her voice. “I want to help, and I want to be with you.” She looked him straight in the eyes and he nearly lost all sense of judgment. She was sure about this. Diana might even have become as attached to him as he was her.

“Really?!” Steve’s voice was an octave higher than he’d intended.

Steve watched the muscles of her throat contract as she swallowed, and her pupils dilated. Diana opened her mouth but nothing came out. She nodded her head quickly, leaned up, and kissed him on the lips. It was barely a kiss, her lips brushed over his, but Steve at least knew what to do from there. He kissed her back, also with his mouth closed. Diana stepped in closer and Steve could feel her rib cage expand and contract as she breathed. His heart pounded harder and Diana pressed her lips back onto his. They were soft and firm, and her breath reminded him of flowers and spices, like cardamom and roses.

Steve kept his mouth there to commit this moment to memory clearly. First kisses, so far, were also last ones for him. Diana slid her arms around his back and pressed her lips more firmly to his. Then they both parted their lips and Steve wanted to die. He wanted to jump into the kiss, get swallowed down like Charybdis, and drown. So he tried. First the kiss was tender. Steve took in the smooth warmth of her lips, the perfect shape of her mouth, and the hint of hunger and restraint in her movements. He didn’t think he was imagining that. Diana took tiny little breaths and never really broke contact with his mouth. 

In fact, Diana kissed him harder. Steve pulled her as close to him as he could. He felt her heart pounding along with his and they opened their mouths wider. Diana made a little sound that was some combination of a moan and a purr. It resonated past his lips, through his chest, and between his legs. Oh god, that was the first time that happened when he kissed someone. Steve began to shake and Diana held him tighter. She slid her tongue into his mouth, touched the tip of his, and pulled it out again. Steve took a half-step backward so his erection wouldn’t noticeably and embarrassingly touch her thigh.

Steve pulled back to take a breath. Her lips were flushed and her eyes were bright. “Diana I…” he had no idea what to say. “I love you” seemed pretty early and inappropriate, even though something like that emotion spurred him to insist to Sam and Natasha that she come with him on the run. Vision and Wanda got to have a relationship. It was different, and he was petulant about it, but it still wasn’t fair. Nothing in his life ever was, though. “I…” he tried again. Nothing. He had nothing that wouldn’t be creepy or possibly disingenuous. Part of him still stood back, skeptical as Natasha and Sam, that someone could feel this strongly this quickly. But Steve couldn't shake the feeling of how absolutely correct this all was--and the inexplicable familliarity, as if the kiss were a reunion rather than a first time.

Diana kissed him again. “Me too.”

They held onto each other, breathing hard. “I should, I mean we should probably go…” 

Diana nodded, looking bewildered and reluctant. Then she loosened her hold on him and started to pull back. 

That small step, the creation of just an inch or two more between them, hurt. It was like someone had yanked her back. Steve felt cold. He pulled her in again and kissed her even harder. He slipped his tongue into her mouth this time and she slid hers along it. Diana really was Charybdis. They both were. He did his best to keep his hips away from hers. Steve was rapidly losing his composure, but he could try to be a gentleman.

Then, mercifully for him, Diana pulled back again and smiled up at him. “Good night, Steve. I’ll see you in the morning, right?”

Steve nodded. He couldn’t quite find his voice. Diana squeezed his hand and then let it go before disappearing behind her hotel room door.

So now here he was, lying in bed by himself, staring at the mildew pattern in the corner of the ceiling. Steve had never had a kiss like that before, not that he had much experience. He felt it. Steve felt the kiss, and all of the emotions he couldn’t quite name, down to his toes in those few minutes. With Peggy it had been sweet and a little desperate because he might not come back, and he was right. He had no idea what might have happened beyond the War. He had liked her a lot though. And Sharon…that was just a train wreck from the get-go. No, this kiss with Diana was incredible. Diana was completely present for it. There was no agenda in it, other than that she wanted to stay with him beyond the Czech Republic. It felt like they’d been building up to that kiss for more than just two weeks. It was almost cathartic.

Steve had wanted to be brave enough to take her inside. Or for her to invite him in. He had to maintain some amount of distance, though. If Sam and Natasha voted “No,” that would be that; she couldn’t stay. Trying to go further with Diana, even if Steve had the courage, would make things worse if he had to leave her behind. He couldn’t tell her where he was going. The combination of the two contradictory possibilities made him a little despondent. Steve focused on the former idea. He’d never actually touched a naked woman before. He’d never even really touched one through her clothes, except for arms and mid-back. He thought about going further. They’d have come inside and maybe Diana would have pressed him against the wall and undid the buttons on his shirt while she kissed him. Maybe the kisses would be more frantic. Steve might pull his shirt off the rest of the way and then her hands would be on his bare chest.

Steve absentmindedly pressed his hand to the center of his chest. He smoothed it down the ridges of his abdomen and to the base of his penis. He’d unzip her dress and she’d shimmy out of it, and then step out of those short heels. Her breasts would be up against him. He couldn’t think how to manage the bra. So in his fantasy, he’d buy some time by moving them both to the bed. He’d take Diana’s hand and lead her there. What would happen then? Steve was still stuck on the bra logistics. Jesus, even his stupid fantasies contained impediments, clumsiness, and complications. His erection sagged as he worried over a damned undergarment. What was wrong with him?

Steve tried to conjure the journey from hotel corridor to bed from the beginning but it was no use. That was the end of that. It was, without question, a good thing he remembered to be a gentleman and be sensible. It was lucky that she put the brakes on, because for the first time, he was close enough to the edge to not want to step back. He rubbed his hand over his face, rolled onto his side, and tried to sleep.

***

Diana shouldn’t have done that. She knew better than that and she took advantage. At some point, whether Steve found out who she was or he remembered, he would realize that Diana had been withholding important information and a big part of who she was. Diana knew Steve well enough to know that he wouldn’t stand for it. Steve demanded honesty. He deserved it. Diana felt a little bit dirty for letting things get that far while he didn’t recognize her. Still, what if he never did? What if they could be like this and she could just be a human woman who fell in love with Steve as if for the first time? Diana dismissed the idea. It was unrealistic. On the other hand, that kiss made her want to fall apart at the seams.

More likely, Steve would remember or be told, and then be upset. Diana imagined having become even closer in this century than they had been while he was healing so long ago in Themyscira. They’d have a real romance, now. And then Steve would find out and the outrage and disappointment would follow. And he’d be right to judge her. He’d be right to feel lied to and violated. And then Steve really would be lost to her forever, rightly so, and it would be her own fault.

Diana bent over the sink and splashed cold water over her face, then she undressed and climbed into bed. The covers and mattress were musty and cool, and gave her goosebumps. She took a few moments to settle in and focused on the yellowing paint with the brownish stains. It was peeling away from the ceiling. She hadn’t volunteered for this. Diana had been in her mother’s chambers, and Hippolyta had just laid out a plate of fruit and meats. Hermes whooshed in, said, “We need you in Man’s world. A storm is coming.” Before anyone could protest, he seized Diana’s upper arms and whisked her away. Diana wasn’t even sure which Earth Hermes had meant. Would she be with Clark and the others, or would she be in the other place, where she hadn’t been in a human lifetime? Now, even after seventy years, Diana was tumbling headfirst into the past. Diana saw Steve and everything got complicated because she couldn’t control her emotions.

The warmth of Steve’s mouth lingered on Diana's lips. His scent seeped into her clothes. Diana had been wanting to kiss him for so very long. But what she allowed was unethical. Diana knew that it was wrong to initiate this intimacy before Steve knew who and what she was. Her heart still thudded and heat tingled from the tip of her tongue to between her thighs. Diana squeezed her thighs together and wriggled her hips, but refrained from touching herself. Taking this further, even in her imagination, would only make things worse. Diana promised herself to apologize to Steve in the morning, once they’d gotten some sleep.

She tried. Diana rolled over and closed her eyes. The hardness of Steve’s chest was a distraction. The ghost of his strong arms still embraced her. The scent of the spices in their dinner and the mint Steve had sucked afterward remained in the back of Diana’s throat. She was stronger than him. Steve was the epitome of human health and strength, but Diana was an immortal demigoddess. She felt safe and grounded when he held her, anyway. That was important because the kiss made her soar. This wouldn’t do at all. But she had to remain with this team if she wanted to understand why she was even brought here.

***

Diana maintained friendly eye-contact with Sam and Natasha as they asked their questions. She’d talked Steve out of being there, at least. It became clear from the outset that being cagey wasn’t an option and that lying outright about her identity would backfire. Natasha at least seemed to be coming around a little bit.

“So you really like him, huh?” Natasha asked, leaning back on her hands as she sat cross-legged on the hotel room bed. Sam sat in the one rickety chair and Diana sat cross-legged on the bed in between the two of them.

Diana nodded her head. “I adore him more than you can know,” she said truthfully. This was going to be difficult. “But what matters is that I think I can help you. Your vessel’s cloak is malfunctioning. I can repair it.” It was a relatively easy fix. Whereas nations like Wakanda used technology to render themselves invisible to the human eye, Olympians had powers and magic. The principle was the same either way. This was how Themyscira, the only Olympian land whose plane touched Man’s world, remained hidden for so many millennia. “But yes, it’s a longer story than Steve thinks. He doesn’t remember me by a design not of my choosing.”

Sam folded his arms and stared at her. “Care to explain that one? What do you even do? Why do you know how to use that kind of technology? Or how about this, start by explaining clearly who you are, where you’re from, and why, if you like Steve so much, you’re keeping basic information about yourself a secret from him?”

Diana sighed. “Because,” she said, “it would only confuse matters. Steve needs to remember on his own, or I need to find a way to break the enchantment.”

Now it was Natasha’s turn to balk. “You’re hiding something. You’re not even doing a good job of it if you’re trying to convince us you’re of value.

Sam followed up, “And I’d like to relieve you of the notion that you’re living in a fairy tale. Enchantments? C’mon.”

Diana unfolded her legs and walked over to the dirty window overlooking the street. She took a deep breath, turned around, and looked at them seriously. “I am Princess Diana of Themyscira, champion of the Amazons and Olympus. I was created from the clay shores of Themyscira and given life by Demeter’s tears as she pined for Persephone. I am immortal. I am approximately five thousand years old. I have been blessed by the gods with power and strength that I might protect their dimensions from the World of Man’s self-destructiveness, with the help of the Amazonian army should the situation ever dictate the necessity.”

Sam’s eyes bugged, then he threw his head back and laughed. 

Natasha simply gaped at her and exclaimed, “You’re serious. You are totally serious. I can’t even tell if you’re insane.”

Diana took a breath and continued. “Captain Steve Rogers, Captain America, Champion of the World of Man was delivered to the Amazonians by Poseidon himself. He was broken. The world needed him. And so we healed him. I…I fell in love with him. I wanted to join him. Instead, my mother, against the wishes of Athena and Ares, who rarely agree, sent him even deeper into the freezing oceans. My mother cast an enchantment to make Steve forget his time with us, and more importantly to her, forget about me. When it became clear that Man’s champion was not going to return, Athena chose me to fight in his stead. I was once called Wonder Woman.”

Natasha did a double-take. “I’ve heard of her. There are stories that I grew up with.”

Sam threw his hands in the air and gestured at Diana. “Nat, You can’t possibly believe this!”

Diana ignored him. “Something is going to happen. Something terrible, and I don’t know what it is. As soon as I realized that Steve was alive, youthful, and exactly where I’d been set by Hermes, I knew he was integral to preventing disaster. But the oracles were not specific beyond what I’ve told you. I will not fight until such time as the gods decree it. But I need to remain with him.”

Natasha tapped her finger on her thigh. “And if you aren’t enough?”

“ I have an army of immortal warriors. And I have been to other Earths. There are many. I have friends who can help.”

Natasha frowned and glanced over at Sam. Sam shook his head incredulously. “So,” he said irritably, Steve can’t know your secret and we can, why exactly?”

Diana turned to him and dropped her shoulders. You know because I will not lie to you, and certainly not to Steve. But I don’t know how to undo my mother’s enchantments. I don’t know whether seeing me as Wonder Woman would rip him apart mentally or emotionally, or whether it would have no effect at all.” She took another breath to calm the shuddering that was starting. 

Diana didn’t want to cry, but her voice broke when she held out her palms to Sam and said, “I want more than anything for Steve to remember. More than anything in the world. I can take him over the last hurdle to snap the pieces into place, and maybe my presence will start the process, but Steve needs time to remember in stages and dreams. He can’t know. It will break him if he knows without remembering.” She wiped a stray tear.

Sam frowned at Natasha. “Fine. She stays for now.”

***

Steve lifted her in the air and twirled her around at the news, then kissed her hard. Diana couldn’t help laughing. “I was getting afraid that I was gonna have to say goodbye and then try to find you again on my own!” Steve shivered for a second and hugged her tightly. “I’ve had too many goodbyes.”

Diana hugged him back and rested her head against his shoulder. Steve had no idea just how profound the sentiment was, and that the resolve to find her caused a strong sense of deja-vu. Diana couldn’t think of anything to say that would betray her relief. A human lifetime ago, Steve’s lifetime ago, the goodbye was final. This time, Diana would not let go so easily.

Diana sat down on the bench with him. Steve liked this park. Diana did, too. “Steve, there are things about me that you don’t know. Things I can’t tell you yet but wish I could.”

Steve held her hands in his and squeezed them. “You can tell me anything.”

“I wish that were the case. But I’m asking you to trust me more than you have reason to do so. I would never betray you and never hurt you purposefully.” Diana reached out and pulled the dark sunglasses off of Steve’s face, and then cupped his face with one hand. The facial hair was strange to touch, and had felt unfamiliar in her mouth. Then again, until recently, Diana had only ever kissed women. Looking him in the eyes, she told him, “One day you will know the rest. And I hope you can live with that and know I will never, ever lie to you.”

Steve smiled at Diana. “Live with the suspense of knowing, or live with the rest of your truths?” He kissed the palm of her hand. “Because unless you’re a spy for Hydra or Washington DC, I can’t imagine anything so bad that I’d have to walk away. I don’t ask just anyone to go on the lam on a global scale with me.” Steve touched his forehead to hers. “Whatever this is, I think it’s real. I’m just assuming it is for you too, or you wouldn’t agree to this crazy venture. I believe you, Diana.”

Diana slanted her mouth against Steve’s and kissed him softly. He pulled her into his arms and gently opened her mouth with his tongue. Diana melted into the kiss, and into the moment. A very long time ago, she told him that immortality brought her perspective in several ways. One of them was to appreciate and live wholeheartedly in every single moment. Each moment was its own infinity of possibilities. So Diana did that now. She slid her hand to the hollow space at the back of his neck. Steve cradled the back of her head in his hand. Right now, they were just two people trusting and loving each other. And all anyone ever has, Diana told herself, is every moment at a time.


	3. Chapter 3

Approximately Six Months Later, Wales

Steve extended his arm and lifted Diana up on the rock’s ledge next to him. She immediately glommed onto him, wrapping her arms around his waist. They looked down at the valleys of the Black Mountain range. “We’re finally alone,” she whispered.

He’d needed this. He’d needed to be alone with Diana where there was no threat of recognition or invasion of privacy. There was little to no privacy on the plane and even though hotel rooms offered exactly that, they were usually dingy and they weren’t sharing a room. So they came here. Her long, dark braid hung down her back and she held her jacket tightly around her. She shivered visibly. He hugged her close. “I sometimes forget other people get cold faster than I do,” he apologized. “But yeah, we’re alone.” Below them, the mountains jutted and pierced into the air, sloping downward into the green and brown expanses of life below them. And they were here together. He never thought he’d crave someone’s attention or company as much as he did her. This was the place he was going to broach the subject. No one would interrupt here and there weren’t distractions. Most importantly, there was no place for him to run if he felt like chickening out.

It hadn’t been an easy few months by any stretch, but having Diana with him made it tolerable. It was more than tolerable. He could make hard decisions. He could uproot again and again and remain low to the ground. He could be hyper-vigilant about getting caught. But it was Diana who gave him strength and hope. 

“This reminds me of a place I know. It reminds me of home, except colder,” she said quietly, interrupting the flow of his gathering courage. 

“Do you miss it?” He periodically wondered whether he’d done the right thing for her by letting her join their group. Just because he didn’t have roots or a home didn’t mean she didn’t, either. “Do you want to go home?”

She looked at him. Without even a hint of a smile, she told him, “Not if it means being without you.”

Steve was completely smitten. He cupped her face in one hand and traced his index finger over her top lip. She kissed his hand. Then he ran his thumb along her bottom lip and she tilted her chin up. “If I kiss you right now I’ll have to stop looking at you.” 

“I’ll still be here,” she told him. He leaned in and kissed her. She opened her mouth widely. Even though the air was chilly and her skin was cold, her mouth was warm and wet and he drank in its heat. She skimmed the outside of his upper lip with her tongue and then sucked it past her own lips. He opened his mouth wider and covered her mouth with his. They pushed so closely together that their teeth clacked against one another’s. It still wasn’t close enough. He scrunched her braid in his hand and she pressed her hands into his low back. He wanted her to go lower. It was cold out and he felt nothing but heat and want from his mouth to his groin. 

He pulled away. “I’m just gonna say it, Diana. “ She tilted her head. There was a question in her eyes. Steve took a big, steadying breath and then swallowed hard. He reminded himself that this was why he was here. “I love you, Diana.” She smiled softly, almost sadly, and her eyes got a little bit wet. Did he say the wrong thing? It was true, definitely, but maybe not for her. Or maybe she thought he was going in a different direction with this. If he were doing things the right way, if he were still Cap and still an upstanding citizen, he would be asking her something different after telling her how he felt. His stomach flopped. 

Then she took his face between her hands and kissed him hard. 

***  
He said the words. He said them before she did, and she felt like her entire body shouted the sentiment back. So she swallowed it down to keep it there, deep in her core. She wanted to say it back. She wasn’t sure if she should. He loved a particular version of herself. It was a genuine facet of her, but he didn’t remember the rest. He loved the part of her it was safe for her to show him. But it had been six months since she was brought here and nothing disasterous had happened, or even threatened to happen, in this world. If she could be just like this with him, just a human woman, that would be okay. She broke off the kiss. “I love you too, Steve.” It choked her up. The tears started unexpectedly.

“Uh, sorry?” he ventured.

She smiled and shook her head. “I’m happy. But Steve there’s so much you don’t know about me. There are things I might never be able to tell you. But I love you. I love you even with the facets that you don’t see. Always.”

That seemed to be good enough for him for now. He hugged her tightly and replied, “Then I’ll love the parts that I see and I’ll be ready to love the rest if I ever get to see it.” She wasn’t as confident about that but she leaned her head up and kissed his chin. He leaned down further and kissed her mouth.

Then he turned a shade of pink. “So um, I was thinking that, uh, y’know since we’re in love and we’ve been together for a while…” he trailed off and looked past her shoulders into the mountains and trees. She hoped he wasn’t about to propose. She hadn’t even thought about that. She couldn’t. And she wouldn’t be able to tell him why. 

He blushed furiously and took another breath. “I love being with you. I love spending time talking about all sorts of stuff, I love working out with you, having meals with you, and sitting around reading next to you. And I, uh…I especially love holding you and kissing you. I could do that all day long and be very happy.”

Diana smiled and kissed him. “Well I want you to be happy,” she grinned, and kissed him again. She sensed him soften into the kiss but he pulled away before she could pry his lips further apart with her tongue. She liked doing that. 

Steve smiled, looking abashed. “I was wondering if you wanted to, y’know…” He stopped there and waited expectantly. Several seconds went by.

“Um, no, Steve, I don’t know. I mean, I already assumed we’d spend a very long time making out, once we were all the way up here though. You don’t have to ask! She tilted her head again and kissed his jaw.

He turned even pinker and backed up, but didn’t let go of her. “I was hoping maybe when we get back to the hotel tonight we could, um…we maybe would go into my room or yours and, uh, y’know, do more.”

It started to dawn on her what he was saying. She narrowed her eyes. “You want to make out in bed?” She was pretty sure she knew where this was headed, but Steve had always been skittish about physical contact, even in Themyscira. She didn’t assume anything. But she’d been wanting more contact with him for a very long time. 

He smiled a little bit. “Well, yeah that, and I…I stopped by the chemist and picked up some…” he looked like he was about to choke. “Some items for uh, for protection and…and we could, if it’s okay, and only if you wanted to we could…”

Diana was torn now between seeing if he could say it, or having mercy on him. She wanted him to say it. She couldn’t, she decided. She knew more than he did and she was having a very difficult time determining her ethical boundaries this past few months. But she wanted this very badly. And he was adorable right now. 

“I uh, I thought about bringing flowers but they’re hard to climb with. But, um.” He grimaced. Then he kissed her and held her by the upper arms. “I was hoping we’d maybe take things the next step soon. Maybe even tonight if it’ okay…I mean, only if you want to.”

“Steve are you trying to tell me you want to have sex?”

He swallowed a couple of times. “Yeah. That’s pretty much what I was getting at.”

“Yes.” She couldn’t tell what ratio of relief, joy, and terror registered in his face all at once. “Or at least we can work toward it. I’m not particularly experienced with men,” she told him. “As in, at all.” It occurred to her that that might not be true the other way around. He’d been living in this century for a few years. He must have had a girlfriend or two at some point. Then again, his seduction skills left a bit to be desired. “Do you?”

He kept turning pinker, but he grinned. “Do I have experience with men? Nope!”

She laughed. “You know what I mean. Have you had other partners, or are we both figuring it out for the first time as we go along?”

Pink started to become red. “Uh, no. I mean, there were two women besides you in the past that I kissed…one of them was way in the past, but no. I never even, uh...I uh, held hands with a woman on a regular basis." He stammered adorably. 

“Then we’ll improvise,” she replied, and kissed his jaw through the beard. She was in for a penny, in for a pound at this point. Maybe intimacy would jog his memory and awaken him. Or maybe it would just bring them closer as they were now. “I want your skin against mine. I want to be as close as I can get to you. I love you.”

He took a deep breath and kissed her deeply. Dear Aphrodite, she loved him. Dear Aphrodite please don’t let him change his mind when the crisis came and he saw who she was. Please, she wanted him to remember gently.

***

Steve’s hands shook as he fumbled with the hem of Diana’s sweater. He kissed her a lot to buy time, hoping it would steady his nerves, but it just made everything more urgent. Eventually she took pity on him, stepped back a couple of paces, and crossed her arms over the edges of the garment, pulled it past her head, and tossed it aside. She was beautiful. Her breasts were full and round, and he could see her small, round nipples through the blue lace of her bra. His erection stretched against his zipper before he even touched her beyond that. This was about to happen. Christ, this was about to happen.

She stepped toward him again, sucked his mouth into hers, and slid her palms under his sweatshirt. Her hands were cool and the static electricity in the room sent little shocks up his center and between his legs when she traced his nipples with her fingernails. He watched her, sure that his eyes were enormous. Her eyes were open, too. They were the sky and the ocean simultaneously. “It’s okay to touch me,” she said quietly. Then she kissed him again. “I want you to touch me. Touch me everywhere. Take off your shirt.” 

He was thankful that one of them, at least, had the wherewithal to take charge and make decisions. He might not be confident about what to do, but by golly he knew how to follow orders. First, he yanked his sweatshirt over his head and tossed it behind him, Then, he hovered his hands over her waist, barely skimming her. It was electric. He instinctively pressed his hips forward against her. Was it too soon to be this excited? Was this normal? She didn’t seem to mind that he was poking at her inner thigh. She copied the move and slid her palms along his waist, over the sides of his rib cage, and across his chest. She pressed her thumbs against his nipples, first very tentatively, and then harder and harder. She pushed her hips back against his. It wasn’t until she took her hands off of him that he realized he’d choked again. She placed her hands over his and positioned them on her waist. She didn’t seem upset or impatient. Well, a little impatient, because she implored, with eagerness and desperation in her voice, “Please Steve, please touch me.”

He grazed his hands up her rib cage and around her breasts. He didn’t mean to keep hesitating. “I’m sorry,” he stammered breathlessly. “I just…you’re so beautiful. I never even imagined.” She responded by leaning in and licking first one nipple, then the other, and pursing her lips over them until they were hard little points. He nearly lost his footing. His knees went weak for a moment and he pressed against her harder. She widened her stance by a couple of inches and pushed her hips forward again. He pushed back. His erection, covered up by boxers and jeans, rubbed between her legs, right up against…that place. 

He cupped her breasts behind the flower pattern on her bra. The lace was soft and rough. When he moved his fingers closer to her nipples, her breath caught. When he copied her movement, circling his thumbs over her nipples, she closed her eyes. When he tentatively lowered down and touched his tongue to them, she stopped breathing altogether for a moment. He closed his lips around one nipple through the fabric and she made the most beautiful moaning sound he’d ever heard. He just made her moan. His penis was stroking her vagina through their clothes and she was rocking her hips against him. This was real. Dear Lord, he loved her and every nerve was on alert, sensing more to come. His mouth and hands were on her breasts. 

Except they weren’t really. He was going to have to deal with the bra. Maybe he could fake it. He ran his fingers along the sides of the bra and around to the back, feeling for the release mechanism. How hard could this be? In movies it took like, two seconds. There were no obvious buttons or clasps on the outside. Did it go over her head? That didn’t seem right. Maybe he missed the release. He tried feeling around more slowly. Hopefully she’d think he was going slowly or teasing her on purpose. No good. He had no idea how this contraption worked.

He pulled back and she looked up at him. Her cheeks and lips were flushed. He kissed her and pulled back again. “I uh…I can’t figure out…” She smiled at him and he lost his train of thought. Without saying a word, she guided his hands to her back again and slid his fingers along with hers underneath the back strap. He felt the hooks. He felt her undo them by pushing the ends of the bra a little closer together, allowing space for them to release. Then she moved her hands away and left his there. He was about to see her breasts. Oh god. All he had to do was slip it off of her. She was kissing and nibbling along his collar bones and throat and he was going to take her bra off and then their torsos would be naked. Pretty soon he was going to have to unzip or else there would be pain. He didn’t dare imagine what happened after that. He wanted just this moment. He took a deep, steadying breath, hooked his fingers under the bra’s straps on her shoulders, and kissed the space behind her ear. He trailed his tongue along her neck and closed his mouth over her shoulder. She sighed audibly and mumbled, "Like that. Yes." She tasted exactly the way she smelled: clean and vaguely tropical. He lifted the straps away from her shoulders…and his cell phone rang. The one he used for emergencies. The one that meant probably the world was about to end.

He took a step back, shut his eyes, and mouthed, “Sorry.” Tony was calling. This must be bad. It had been two years since they’d spoken. He answered the call and, making no effort to hide his irritation, said, “This had better be an honest-to-god, cataclysmic emergency, because otherwise you have just ruined my life further.” But it wasn’t Tony’s voice that replied. “Bruce?!”


	4. Chapter 4

Steve held onto Diana’s upper arms and squeezed. “I’m sorry. I can’t even tell you how sorry.” She watched the muscles around his throat tense. His chin trembled just a little, and he pinched his mouth tight, probably to keep it from getting worse. His eyes were wet. She let him pull her closer and she felt his erection soften against her thigh. He planted small kisses all over her face. “I promise I’ll be back as soon as I can.” Even his voice quavered.

She closed her eyes while he kissed and whispered to her. Everything inside of her, from her throat to the pit of her stomach, shuddered and squeezed tightly. This was probably the beginning. This was probably why she was here. Soon, she would be called into battle, herself. She pulled herself closer to him and pressed her ear to his heart. “I know.” She was having trouble keeping her own voice steady. “Just be safe. Come back to me soon.”

He pulled away and, reluctantly, she disentangled herself until their only contact was their intertwined fingers. She knew it wasn’t the same as last time. It couldn’t be; she’d just found him again. More to the point, Hermes brought her to him. The gods could be and often were callous, but they were never cruel. At least not to her.

Without letting go of her hand, Steve picked his phone up again and sent her the number for his emergency phone, as well as a couple of burners. “So I can find you, in case you have to get out of here,” he explained. She wanted to go with him. It wasn’t time. Great Hera, this felt almost exactly like it did last time, all those decades ago. She’d see him again, she silently reminded herself. It wasn’t the end this time. Absolutely not. 

She looked into his face once more, trying not to worry that it might be the last time. In a sense, it was. In all likelihood, the next time they met she would be Wonder Woman, Champion of Themyscira, Olympus, and Protector of two different Earths. A shift in their relationship was inevitable. She should have been better prepared. She knew it would happen, but it still blindsided her. “I love you, Steve. No matter what happens, no matter how and when we see each other again, I love you. That has never, ever changed, for as long as we’ve known each other.” She could tell by the slight frown and drawn-together brows that he was confused by that. It was okay. He could just think she was emotionally overwhelmed for now. She kind of was.

He kissed her hand and wriggled his fingers out of hers. “It won’t be as long as you think,” he promised. If only he understood. He kissed her one more time, grabbed his always ready-to-go pack, and walked out the door.

Diana plopped down on the edge of the bed and hung her head. It was a long time coming, but still too soon. He still didn’t remember. He told her he’d had glimpses, like memories that hovered around the edges of his brain, that they’d known each other forever. But he misinterpreted the deja-vu. He’d told her it must be because they were so perfect together. She hoped he’d hold onto that sentiment when the time came. She sat up straighter and combed her hair back with her fingers. If it were true, if Hermes brought her here because of Thanos, then she had her own preparations to do. 

Back in her room at dawn the next morning, Diana dug through her duffel bag for altar supplies: the incense, the stone carving of the winged boot, the bag of dirt from Olympus, from which she took a small pinch and spread it around the carving. She’d only chanted the prayer three times before almost blindingly white light burst through the room. Hermes stood in front of her. He nodded and said, “Yes. It has,” before she even asked whether she was right, whether the event had begun. 

Hermes pointed to the TV screen and it flickered on. The news showed the destruction in New York, the O-shaped vessel, the bodies, and the man in the crimson and gold armor, along with two other powered men, losing a fight. “I’ll need more than my army,” she mused to herself. She knew how to get the Amazon warriors here within moments of her call. But she couldn’t get to the other Earth on her own, or contact anyone there. Barry could from his end, but not her. Again, without having to say anything further, Hermes swept her up by the waist and flew straight through the ceiling. A moment later, Diana stood on a sidewalk in Metropolis, looking up at the Daily Planet building.

*** 

The six of them sat around the table. She was pleased that they’d managed it after all—a real place for this Earth’s champions to come together and be a team. She loved the name, “Justice League.” More than that, and more than the feeling of comfort being around her old friends though, she was grateful that they heeded her call. She’d left them. They understood, but she knew they’d felt abandoned. “It’s what friends do,” Kal-el reminded her. “Of course we came. Of course you’re welcome here.”

Arthur leaned back in his swivel chair. He usually had a hard time staying still. He was more comfortable submerged, moving with and against the ebb and flow of the ocean’s currents. “And he is a god, like you.”

Diana shook her head. “No. He isn’t a god at all; he isn’t even properly a Titan. The gods dealt with the Titans eons ago. This is a man from a planet named for my peoples’ precursors. And Thanos has a reputation. He wants to destroy half of all life everywhere: every dimension, every being, indiscriminately as long as the numbers add up.”

Bruce’s eyes widened and he leaned across the table toward her. “Why?” He looked concerned, but he maintained that flat, suspicious tone he always used when he wasn’t being social.

She shook her head and shrugged. “I think, and I only know this third-hand from my messenger god, he believes he will restore balance and stave off extinction. In some twisted way, I’ve been led to believe, those stones will allow him to achieve that goal instantaneously. Even with one stone, he is stronger than you, Kal-el, and he has more than one. And he may not stop at the other Earth’s dimension.”

“Clark. It’s just easier for everyone unless I’m actually being Superman in public.” Clark looked around the table. “We’ll need two lines of defense then: one here and one with you.”

“I need to stay here,” Victor stated emphatically. Diana knew why. He was young. Above all he wanted to protect his last living relation, his father. And, his father could attend to his wounds and malfunctions if it came to that.

Arthur echoed the sentiment. “I know what I can protect here. Since we don’t know where this Thanos will attack, I will remain behind and fight the way I best know how.” 

Bruce nodded. “So it’s down to us.” His mouth was pinched. He looked torn.

Barry spoke up, “I’ll go. I can create a portal to get us there and back.” Diana nodded to him. She figured he’d be first to volunteer.

“Me too,” Clark decided. “Bruce, can you stay here? Can you hold down the fort?”

“Are you telling me what to do? Are you suddenly in charge?” Bruce leaned across from Barry and glared at Clark. Diana had wondered how long that would take. They’d been on tenuously good terms before she returned to Themyscira. She knew they were still friends, but the bickering…oh, the constant bickering.

“I’m not telling you to do anything, Bruce.” Clark’s voice lowered half an octave, becoming defensive. “You’ve got backup. You have technology and resources here. If you go over there you’ll have whatever you can carry and that’s it. You’re more effective here.”

Bruce balled his fists a few times and then folded his arms. Of the members of this team, Diana had known him the longest. He was, underneath the bravado and anger, a good friend. He’d do the right thing. “I agree,” she said.

“Then I guess I’m outvoted,” he grumbled. 

Diana once again glanced around the table. These were some of the bravest individuals she knew. “Barry, if it looks like we’ll fail, you’ll have to…”

“Yeah, I know.” Barry straightened. “I’m up to this. If things go south, I do my best to grab Clark and you, and open a portal, and slam the door behind us.

At the same time, Clark cocked his head, “Try?” and Diana said, “Not me.”

“You’re stubborn. You won’t give up,” Barry explained. Clark shrugged. “Think about Lois. If Thanos wins, it’ll be a matter of time before he gets to our Earth. And he has a stone that controls time. And if he gets all of them, Lois and your mother, and any one of us can disappear.”

Bruce nodded his head but changed the subject. “You’re asking to be left behind, Diana. You're asking us to abandon you.” For the first time since she broke any of the news, she saw a chink in his emotional armor. “We’ll talk.” It didn’t sound like she’d have a “Nothing left to discuss” option from his tone of voice, so she nodded in assent.

Diana flipped on the projector connected to the screen on a wall behind the foot of the table. “This man is called Vision,” she reported. “He’s part android. He’s part technological and all human in the important ways.”

“I’ll have to see how he manages it without all the bulk,” Victor mused aloud.

“The human part came after the android part,” Diana explained. Victor frowned, disappointed. “That object on his forehead is a stone that gives him life and allows him to feel and function as a person. Thanos will kill him for it.” She went on to show pictures of the other team members, whose names she garnered over the past few months. “And Wakanda is cloaked,” she added, once she got to T’challa. Their technological prowess rivals yours, Bruce. In fact, from what I understand, it surpasses it.”

“Are you also going to compare our measurements?” He sneered. His arms were still folded. 

“I wouldn’t know them,” she replied calmly. “My point is that when I last spoke with my contact, he implied this would be the place to find most of them.” She swallowed hard and her hands tremored a little thinking about their last communication. Then she slid Barry a slip of paper with coordinates. “I bring it up because when you and Barry plot our entry point, it will appear as undeveloped forest.”

“Tomorrow, then,” Clark said. “Bruce and Barry will give us the map, and we’ll be there.” 

“Hey Mr. Wayne, I can help with that right…”

“No, Barry, you can’t. Go home. Come back tomorrow at 0600 sharp. Do. Not. Be. Late.”

Barry smirked. “I am never late.” 

***

That evening, after Alfred greeted and hugged her, she sat in a leather armchair at the far end of Bruce’s massive, formal living room, and waited. For all his admonishment to Barry, who, she agreed was perpetually late regardless of his speed, Bruce was usually thirty minutes late for almost everything not having to do with being The Batman. Plus, he never had people here in this room unless he was trying to impress someone or had important business, but he knew she didn’t have to be impressed. They knew each other too well for that. 

Diana slumped down and rested her chin in her hand, supported by the armrest. The last time they spoke, Steve was trying to hide how nervous he was. Now that she understood what they were up against, she couldn’t blame him. They’d spoken on his way to New York, right after he and her new colleagues had helped save Vision from death on the spot. There had been only three enemies to battle, and five on their side. And they almost didn’t save him. “This is bad, Diana. It’s very serious. Please, please stay safe. Don’t look for me.” He had put on his mantle of surety and command. It was in his voice. He was trying to order her to hide. He still didn’t remember. “Promise me.”

Diana held the phone at arm’s length so that they could video call. “I will stay safe, Steve. I promise. But you promise, too.” She knew it was a moot point. This was what Steve did. This was what they both did. But he was easier to kill than she was. She closed her eyes and exhaled slowly. “Promise me.”

Steve just looked at her. His lips were only a little tight; the lines around his eyes were only a little pinched. But in his eyes, she saw all of that fear. Steve carried the weight of not just the world, but the universe with him. He shouldered the burden uncomplainingly, but she knew it was extraordinarily heavy. There was only one other person she knew from that plane of existence who was equally strong enough to take it in terms of physical and mental prowess; she wondered what precautions Asgard had taken thus far. After a few seconds of silence, he said, “I love you.”

Even with his soldier voice, he sounded vulnerable and worried. “You’ll come back.” She noticed he indeed had not returned the promise. “We have unfinished business.” She thought she’d have to force a smile, but it happened on its own as she felt heat creep up her neck and down past her stomach. 

Steve gave her a real smile, then. “Yeah, we certainly do.” He was the only person she’d ever met whose complexion could switch from its usual state to bright red in the span of a second or two. He walked away from where he was standing. The light was more shadowy and it was harder to see him. He’d pulled the blinds shut walked away from a window. “I don’t suppose, um…” he looked down. Now she was speaking with the top of his head. He probably hoped he could get a haircut soon. He hated having it long. 

“Steve?”

He lifted his head and glanced around. Lowering his voice to a whisper, he tried again. “I’m…I’m in my room right now and it’s private.” He rubbed the back of his neck. Diana smirked. He wasn’t really going to ask about this, was he? “I don’t suppose you…you could, um, maybe…about what we were just talking about I mean…I uh…I wouldn’t say ‘no’ to…” He lowered his head again and she heard him swear to himself. Then he looked back at the camera in his phone. “Um, would you mind maybe…y’know, offering me a preview?”

He went there with it. Diana tossed her head back and laughed. She looked at him through the screen and tried, unsuccessfully, not to laugh again. His eyes were huge and his chin hung low. His eyebrows knitted toward each other, emphasizing the worry lines across his brow. That just made things funnier. She took a deep breath, tried to say something, and broke down into laughter again. It took a few seconds for her to compose herself, even though she felt bad about it. “You are terrible at phone sex, my love!” 

She saw him shudder. He smiled shyly. He was endearing when he was bashful. “Sorry,” he mumbled to some spot in the room past the phone. Then he refocused on the screen. “Please? A little?” She bit her lower lip and thought about it. Then she looked him squarely in the face. She smiled softly, tilted her head to one side, and brushed her hair back, exposing the side of her neck. “I liked it when you had your tongue here.” She slowly ran her finger from behind her jaw all the way down to her collar bone, hoping she sounded seductive. She glanced up for a reaction. His pupils were larger and his Adam’s apple bobbed visibly as he swallowed, so she went with it. “And I knew what would happen next. I knew your hands would be on my breasts soon.” She pulled off her t-shirt. She lowered her eyes. Tracing that same finger down and under her bra strap and the side of her bra, which was white and simple today, she continued, “I knew your hands would be on my skin here. I knew your mouth would be on me with nothing between us. My nipples are already hard just imagining your mouth on them.” She glanced the back of her fingernail over one of them. It was probably hard for him to see much with the opaque fabric over it. “I can hardly wait to be with you alone.” It was true, but she felt like she was laying it on pretty thick to the point of sounding disingenuous. Then she smiled directly at the camera, readjusted her strap, and reached over to pull her shirt back on. “Well? Was that what you wanted?” she asked brightly. She bit her lower lip again so that she wouldn’t smirk.

Steve was almost as red as an apple. He opened his mouth as if to speak, but no sound came out. He nodded his head instead. She smiled again. “I don’t think I could handle it if you reciprocated. I’d only end up jealous of your hands.” He looked down again for a few moments, probably relieved. 

“Jesus, Diana, maybe in retrospect that wasn’t one of my better ideas.” His voice was raspy.

She laughed again. “I’m glad I performed my task adequately!” 

“Maybe a little too well!” he grinned back at her. 

This was going to come to a head soon. "There's something you need to know, my love. I wanted this to happen in person but you need to know now..." 

There was a sound from far away on his end. "We'll talk again, I promise. I’ve gotta go. He turned serious again. Be safe. Be careful. I love you.” The screen went black. Diana smiled to herself. Then she forced herself back into the present. She wasn’t going to enjoy the conversation with Bruce. The conversation was as inevitable though, as it was going to be painful.


	5. Chapter 5

Bruce arrived forty-five minutes after Alfred let her in. He pulled up a chair next to her so that their knees nearly touched. “Spill,” he commanded.

Diana leaned back and crossed one knee over the other. “I beg your pardon?”

“You must have a reason to want to stay behind when you know you should retreat. You know better than to let yourself get slaughtered,” he lectured sternly. Then his expression softened. “I don’t want you to commit suicide when it’s not the only option.”

“I’m a five-thousand-year-old warrior. I remain in battle until there are no other options to be had. But Kal-el and Barry don’t belong there.”

Bruce frowned. “Neither do you.”

His pupils widened and the muscles around his eyes tightened, almost as if he might cry. He got up, walked over to the bar, and poured himself a whiskey neat. He didn’t bother asking if she wanted anything. He already knew. “Please tell me why, Diana. Even if nothing ever happens between us, even if we’ll never be together, I think I deserve a reason.”

She uncrossed her legs and shifted in her chair so she could still see him and maintain eye contact. They’d been down this road already. There was only one man she could ever love. She’d told him that. He’d countered that Steve Rogers existed elsewhere and was either decrepit or deceased. He argued that it wasn’t that she couldn’t love; she refused to allow herself to love. He understood all too well that particular defense mechanism. He was willing to lower his if she lowered hers. For a short time she was tempted. Ultimately, she couldn’t. At the time, she was having trouble acknowledging that he was probably correct. Steve Rogers was gone forever.

“I will be leading the Amazonian army. I will remain with them in battle. They are where my loyalties and duties lie.”

Bruce smirked and fixed her with a stare. “That’s a lie. You’re avoiding looking at my face, and I happen to know that it’s so handsome that no women want to avoid it.” He smirked and winked at her, making her chuckle. “I believe you about your army. What are you not telling me?”

Diana sighed and leaned back in the chair. “I found him. He’s alive. He’s only aged a handful of years.”

She watched Bruce process the news. He looked confused, then somewhat bereft, then thoughtful. “You’re picking up where you left off, then?” He didn’t even bother asking the “How” part of the question.

She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment. “Not exactly. He doesn’t remember me yet. My mother cast several enchantments that I don’t know how to undo safely. I don’t know if he will ever remember me. But I allowed myself to begin something with him. I don’t want to lose him a second time.”

“Seems like a riskier situation than you usually opt for.” He was, of course, referring to all the times they had a moment of emotional intimacy, held hands more tightly than necessary, or looked at each other for a few beats too long. And then she routinely refused him.

Her insides began to tremble. She hadn’t come here to hurt him. But he was right, he of all people deserved to know. “It’s mostly that. He’s worth the risk to me. But that’s not the only reason, Bruce. The gods brought me to that world, to him. That Earth’s champions need my help, and it is my duty to oblige. I need to keep Themyscira and by extension Olympus out of harm’s way.”

He narrowed his eyes, then widened them again. He raised his voice, startling her. “Why always you, Diana? Can’t someone else play that role? You’ve got an island full of the most fearsome fighters known to mankind. Let one of those women take the lead!” He poured the entire drink into his mouth and gulped it down. 

She shook her head. Instead of returning to his chair, he poured himself another. So she joined him at the bar. She stood a few inches away and lifted her chin. “You know very well that isn’t an option. I was created exactly for this scale of threat. I am the one formed and chosen by the gods.”

He shrugged and didn’t move off. His eyes glinted and his mouth twitched. “Just say no,” he challenged.

Diana dropped her head back and stared at the chandelier on the ceiling as if it had some insight to offer.

“Look,” he said, and put a hand on each of her upper arms. She rolled her head back up to look at him and tried to keep her expression impassive. She wondered how that was going for herself. “You know how I feel, but putting that aside, what if he doesn’t remember? Even if you never reveal who and what you are, the relationship is untenable. It’ll be unevenly balanced. You know that. And if he does see you as Wonder Woman without remembering, which, it sounds like, will happen sooner than later, he’ll probably be pissed off at you. I would be. I’d feel used. I’d feel lied to. I’d feel like you thought so little of me that you didn’t think I could handle the truth.”

“If you were in that situation, would you believe me if I told you without your having so much as an inkling of memory? Would it send you spiraling into confusion because I seemed comfortable and familiar, and yet, I was telling you that you already loved me? And that you were missing a gigantic chunk of your life because of me? Would you do whatever it took, even extreme measures, to find those memories again, to the point of damaging your psyche?” Bruce pursed his lips and then sucked them into his teeth. “I can give him all of those memories, probably. All it would take is my presence and my lasso. I might have to do that if he doesn’t remember, as you say, before I appear as my true self. But the memories would flood him all at once. I don’t know how to ease him into remembering. It will hurt him.”

He looked her in the eyes, but she saw no more of that sternness or anger. His brow had softened and he’d unclenched his jaw. Probably some of that was the alcohol’s doing. “This is hurting me!” He closed his eyes and swallowed hard. Then he opened them and looked into hers. “I want you to come back here with Clark and Barry. I want you to stay. I want you to stay with me.” 

“Bruce,” she began. She didn’t want this conversation yet again. They’d just had it. They were going in circles. He was hurting, though. He was mourning the chance that almost was taken. She knew that situation much more intimately than she wished. That particular grief was the theme of the last seventy or so years for her. And if she’d accepted Steve’s death as a given, she might have tried to be with him. The two men were as different as night and day. In some ways even more so than him and Clark. She touched her palm to his cheek. “I really do understand. I do. I’m sorry. I have too many reasons to stay there and I promise they don’t all have to do with Steve, but…”

“But you’ve made the decision to defy your heritage and gods before. You stayed with us for ten years. You stayed because you liked it here. I like to think you stayed because of me, or at least that I was the main reason. Because it could have been different if I hadn’t been too stubborn not to ignore us.” He kept hold of her and squeezed. He knew she could get out of the hold if she wanted to. She was sure he was aware that she was allowing this. Perhaps that was a mistake. She couldn’t get past the part about her dear friend’s sadness, though. “You’re willing to risk his rejection and anger and stay there. You have no problem shirking some of your duties because like me, when it comes down to it you do whatever you want. What you want is him. I’m not enough of a reason for you to come back.”

“I’m sorry.” Her voice cracked and all she could do was whisper. “I love you, but I can’t, Bruce. Not the way you want. I’m sorry.” Until today, she hadn’t even considered that this confrontation would happen, that they'd rehash their almost-love affair, bit by painful bit, again. She had assumed that Bruce would have moved on. He always moved on. But she should have remembered that he always looked back, as well.

“You love him more.” There it was. He said it. He spared her the pain of having to say it herself. She sighed, relieved. But it still felt like a knife to her heart when the words became real. It must be torture for him. She slowly nodded her head. “I love him foremost. I always have.” She gently dropped her hand from his cheek to his jaw. His skin was soft and the jaw bone was a hard, almost severe line. Bruce had chosen for his life to be as hard as his own interior structure. She held her hand there. 

They stared at each other in their strange, quiet embrace. His eyes brimmed with tears but they never quite fell down his face. He tilted his head and kissed her hand. “Bruce I don’t know what else to say.” Her throat tightened and the tears rolled down her face. 

Bruce wiped them away and held her face in his hand as well. It was a strange, sad tableau. “Then don’t say anything else. He swallowed hard, probably again, trying to maintain some composure. “You’re beautiful, Diana, Princess of Themyscira. In every way possible. And I’m jealous. There’s nothing else for you to say or do. This is all on me.”

She stood on her toes to kiss his cheek, but neither of them had moved their hands. The result was a misplacement and her mouth brushed against his. He pulled her in and pressed his lips a little more firmly to hers. She tensed up but didn’t pull away immediately. He used the opportunity to soften his mouth against hers. He didn’t try to make her open her mouth; instead he alternated the amount of pressure between soft and tender, and fervent. His mouth was different from Steve’s. For starters, Bruce smelled like expensive cologne and expensive whiskey. His scent was musky and smoky. His scent was mostly indoors, whereas Steve’s was outdoors. Bruce was a couple of inches shorter than Steve, so the angle of their mouths was different—almost literally head-on. That made a difference in the emotional effect: Steve’s kisses and embrace were protective, maybe even a little possessive. Bruce’s kiss communicated more of an equality between them. His body temperature was a little cooler, and of course, his face was smooth. She liked smooth better, she admitted to herself. She could have been good with this at one point in her life. She could have been like this with him and she probably would have been happy, but he would never push Steve out of his position of primacy in her heart…not even when she thought he was dead. Bruce pulled away and touched his forehead to hers. Still holding her face in both hands, he whispered, “Thank you.” Then he let go and returned to his chair.

Diana stayed where she was and let her head hang down. Her mind buzzed with static. There weren’t any thoughts. She was unsure of whether that was a kind of defense mechanism to keep her from her own heartache. She loved Steve. Always, always, always, and Bruce’s assessment was correct. It didn’t mean she didn’t love Bruce. Just like her presence in Steve’s life didn’t negate the fact that once he had feelings for a woman called Peggy.

A few minutes went by and she knew that Bruce was still there, studying her, waiting patiently. She took a breath and looked up at him. She tried to smile. “We need to plan a strategy,” Bruce told her. “You three can’t just show up and storm the castle unannounced.”


	6. Chapter 6

Wakanda

Steve heard her voice and saw her face on the phone and almost every knot in his gut released. “I couldn’t get ahold of you! Where were you?!” It probably came out harsher than he’d intended. That was his mother’s question and tone of voice when he’d come home past his curfew. “Sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. I’m just relieved that you’re okay.”

Diana smiled back at him. “Me too. I mean, I’m glad you’re okay. I was on the move for two days.” But now I’m okay.

It was only two days. And in that forty-eight hours, Steve thought he might lose his mind from worry. His mood was all over the place, between defiant of the American government’s attitude toward himself and his friends, focused and stern about Vision and this Thanos guy, and frantic that Diana had been incommunicado. “Where are you now?” Diana asked. 

He told her. She knew about Wakanda anyway, and there was no way, even with her knowledge of how cloaking in a plane worked, that she’d be anywhere near the combat that was ahead. He felt it coming. Shuri and Bruce just had to get that stone out of Vision’s head and Wanda had to destroy it first. Then, hopefully, everyone would live and he’d get to return to her.

“I miss you.” She looked nervous. 

“Sweetheart it’ll be okay. I’ll come back to you soon.” He believed it at the moment. Looking at her, talking like this and knowing what it felt like to have her close made him believe it wholeheartedly. “Two or three days, tops and we’ll be together.” Yes. Undoubtedly.

She tilted her head to one side and twitched her mouth the right. “You just said a few days ago that this was going to be incredibly dangerous. You didn’t want me around because you were sure I’d die. Which version of events should I believe?”

He sighed and dropped his shoulders. “The latter,” he admitted. He didn’t want her to go crazy worrying about him. “Look, I have no intention of dying anytime soon. I’ve got a lot of support here and if Thanos and his people come, we’ll put up a hell of a fight. I will be back for you.” He hoped to god it was true. If he had to die for the sake of life everywhere, he wouldn’t hesitate to lay down his life. But he didn’t want to. Not when he finally had something to live for. But he’d do it. He didn’t say that to her. She already knew. There was no point in belaboring it, pouring salt into the wound.

She bit her lip. “Let me come to you,” she said quietly. It wasn’t a demand; it wasn’t even a very convincing request. It still made his whole body ache. His heart dropped into the pit of his stomach. Please don’t cry, he begged silently. He would fall apart if she cried. She swallowed hard and looked at him directly. Her eyes were still a little blood-shot, but they were dry. 

“I miss you too. Like you said, we have unfinished business. No way I’m shirking that responsibility.” That made her laugh. It was like music to him. But her mood changed back to worry quickly. He would feel the same if the tables were turned. He might not even be as patient about it as she was being. And he was having trouble maintaining the confident façade for her.

“I see it in your face,” she told him, as if she’d read his mind. “You’re not as sure about what will happen as you’re trying to make it appear. I’ll do whatever it takes to help and support this. There's something you need to know about me, Steve...”

He shook his head sadly. “No way. I can’t do my job if I’m worried about whether you’re safe. Stay where you are.” Her face tensed and she looked away from the camera on her phone. “Diana look at me.” She did. She was already in mourning. She was already preparing herself. He wasn't going to let her say what she wanted to say, which would have been something like, 'I'll never forget you.' "No matter what happens, please understand this. I love you. I have every intention of coming back to get you. Okay?” She nodded her head. The corners of her mouth were downturned. To his chagrin, the thought occurred that she had the prettiest, sad pout he’d ever seen. He heard voices down the corridor. “Sweetie that’s Natasha and T’Challa looking for me. I gotta go. I don’t know when I’ll call again but I will call. I love you.” He ended the call.

“It’s going to take some time,” T’Challa informed him. But I’m confident in my sister’s skills. We need to buy her as much time as we can.” Steve nodded. From outside, heavy, screaming thuds slammed into Wakanda’s barrier and reverberated through the building. “It’s time.”

***  
Wales

“It’s time.” She lit the incense on her altar. Steve was worried about not being able to do his job and keep her safe. She wondered aloud what it meant that she had no such worries…not significant ones, anyway.

“You’ve had five thousand years of combat training and have battled enormous, world-threatening monsters before,” Kal-el replied. “He may be a fine combatant and a brilliant strategist, but his perspective is, if you’ll forgive the bad analogy, practically the equivalent of a toddler’s by comparison.”

She didn’t especially care for the comparison, he was right. But from his perspective it was probably accurate. Her fellow Amazonians would certainly agree. She had more faith in his abilities and talents than that, but she took Kal-el’s point. “Shield your eyes,” she warned her two friends. She began her chant.

When Hermes appeared and the light dimmed, they saw that he wasn’t alone. Diana widened her eyes and gaped for a split second, and then dropped to her knees. She extended her arms out and lowered her torso over her thighs. “Rise,” Athena instructed.” Diana obeyed immediately. She didn’t dare look behind her. She only hoped that Kal-el would know to show outward deference, and that Barry would know to follow his lead.

“Your army awaits you outside the fields of Wakanda,” Ares stated. “They are prepared for bloodshed. They understand that more is at stake than their tiny lives.”

Athena shot him an annoyed glance. “All of our lives are miniscule in relation to the cosmos and time itself,” Diana replied, keeping her head bowed.

“It’s okay to look upon Us,” Hermes told her. So she raised her head and looked into the serene, beautiful face of one of her patron goddesses and into the severe, scarred face of the god of war. 

Ares smiled at her. Up close and in person, he was much more handsome than the books and scrolls credited him. His bones were thick and his muscles were solid. There was no angle on him, nor any feature at all, that wasn’t sharp, except for his eyes. His eyes were large and brown, and told stories of having seen so much bloodshed. Even Ares knew when enough blood had been spilled. She understood now why Aphrodite would find him so irresistible. 

Athena pointed at Barry. “You will create the portal in this place.” She waved her hand and a picture appeared in the air. The armies were assembling. Wakandans readied spears and bows. The Avengers she recognized, along with a few more including an enormous suit of armor similar to the one she’d seen on TV, stood at the front of them. In the distance, just beyond the perimeter of the bubble, a portal wavered, closed. 

“Then you,” she pointed at Kal-el. From above. And remain above.” He nodded his head. 

“And at the same time you.” She looked directly at Diana. She’d never looked into the face of an actual goddess before. She’d only heard their voices and seen avatars. Athena’s features, like Ares’ were stark but somehow delicate at the same time. Her eyes were large and gray, and she commanded every person’s attention in the room, including that of the other two gods.

“We don’t have to remind you what is at stake,” Ares warned. He stepped toward Diana. She forced herself to stand stock-still. What she wanted to do was fly off as fast as she could. She felt his pent-up, fierce energy as he approached. Without being told, Diana transformed into Wonder Woman. Ares extended his hand into the air and pulled out a scabbard, sword, and shield. He extended his arms for her to take them. Hands trembling and heart racing, Diana reached for the weapons. As soon as she touched them, the sword appeared in its sheath on her back and the shield was in her hand. 

Hermes put his hand on her shoulder. Hermes was the only god who could touch non-deities and demigods without immolating them on contact. His hand was hot. She winced but didn’t pull back. “Good luck, little one,” he said. He smiled at her fondly. Hermes was also the only male god to impart to her a gift at her birth: speed, agility, and, in limited measure, flight. The heat seared down through her legs and feet. He winked at her and then the gods disappeared.

The two men stood up. She hugged each of them. “Follow the plan. Leave even if it looks like we’re about to fall. Go back to your Earth, seal off every point of entry into your verse as possible, and hide from Thanos. Protect yourselves. Swear on this oath once more.” Barry and Kal-el looked at each other, then at Diana, and did as asked.

Then Barry stepped outside. “Here we go!” He took off, circling faster and faster until he wasn’t even a blur anymore, and the portal to Wakanda opened.


	7. Chapter 7

Wakanda

There were too many of the creatures. They jumped on him, clawing and biting, three or four at a time. He was going to get tired eventually. That woman was right. They had almost an endless supply of blood they were willing to spill. That one, single, stray thought lost him enough time so that he looked around and found himself surrounded by them. He held his shield close and looked for an opening to dive through. The creatures were too big and huddled too closely together. There were no spaces. He smelled their hot, sour breath on him from every direction. He steeled himself, ready to fight. 

Then the creatures froze. Literally, there was a cold breeze and the creatures iced over. A red blur shot by, sending them crashing to the ground and shattering. Steve looked up. Hovering about a yard away from him was a man in a blue suit with a big “S” on his chest, and a red cape. The man smiled at him and saluted. “Captain,” he said. His voice was deep and friendly, and aside from Thor, he was probably the handsomest man he had ever seen…enviably so. 

“I’m at a disadvantage,” Steve said, bracing himself and looking around. Three creatures leapt at the man in blue and Steve prepared to jump up and tackle at least one. There was no need. The man reared his fist back and smashed it rapidfire between each creature’s eyes. They let out piercing screeches and fell to the ground, dead.

“Superman,” the man said, nodded and smiled again, and took off flying. 

From above, the sky thundered and Thor appeared, slammed to the ground, and took out a bunch more creatures. Well, maybe the other guy was a friend of his. Steve turned to run into the melee. There were more fighters than there had been. With spears, shields, bows and arrows, at least a thousand women in leather armor drove back the enemies. He had no idea who they were, but he wasn’t going to turn down the help. More beasts flew forward. Then the ground shook as enormous, spiked, circular vehicles crashed to the ground and thundered into the combat. Spears, neither the women’s nor the Wakandans’ were not going to be enough. He ordered his colleagues to fall back through his earpiece and braced himself to jump onto one of the machines.

Again, there was no need. That red flash of light streaked past him, circling three of the vehicles over and over until they overheated and stopped short. A figure in a red suit with a lightning bolt on his chest and helmet stood briefly with his hands on his hips, assessed his work, and whooshed away again. This had to be all Thor. Thor brought reinforcements and the tide was turning slowly in their favor. He ran past the fallen machines toward the opened barrier from which the creatures and their alien masters had surged. 

It didn’t take long for more beasts to land on him, knocking him over. He drew his knees to his chest and pressed as hard as he could into one of the creature’ chests. Its teeth were sharp. This close up, its breath took on new dimensions of stench, and it steamed over his face. Two sets of claws flew at his face and…missed? He looked around for the flying man again, the one called Superman. Instead he saw the back of one of the women warriors. She must have been the general. Her costume was a short, armored, blue leather skirt. There was a coil of gold rope at her hip. She yanked a sword out of one creature and plunged it into the next one to attack her. But more were coming. Steve got onto his feet and joined the combat, standing with his back to her. 

But the sheer number of these things was overwhelming. He heard her call out, “Flash, move him!” and next thing he knew, something hard grabbed him by the waist and whisked him away from the circle of beasts. From the outside, he saw that there were dozens of them surrounding this woman. Irritated at being pushed aside, he prepared to run back in but he stopped in his tracks. A circular shadow loomed over the crush of animals. He looked up. The woman hovered above them, holding one of the enormous, dead machines over her head. That was impossible. Even Hulk couldn’t lift something like that so effortlessly. She aimed, hurled it down, and threw it over the inner circle of creatures. The ground shook from the impact and he heard the squish and crunch of a hundred or so bodies crushed into the ground. He looked back up at her. She was a few yards, at least, above him. She looked familiar. At any rate, whoever she was, he was glad not to be on the receiving end of her fury.

A few moments later the battlefield quieted. Had they won? Thor and Bucky joined him to survey the damage. Somewhere on the field he knew, unfortunately, that Vision, with stone intact on his head, had joined the fray. He had to find him and save him.. “Thanks for bringing your friends,” Steve said.

Thor nodded his head. “This is Rabbit and this is Tree,” he gesutured to a raccoon on his hind legs with an automatic rifle in his paws and a walking tree—almost like the kind in Fantasia. 

“I am Groot,” the tree-being said.

Steve nodded and pushed his hair back from his face. “I am Steve Rogers.” The two strange beings took off again. He turned back to Thor. “I meant the other ones.”

Thor looked confused. He furrowed his brow and looked around. “I brought no others,”

As if on cue, the man in red, who he heard the woman call “Flash,” and Superman joined them. 

They both looked around. “We’re in the final stages I think,” Superman informed. “But we know he’s coming. 

The Flash nodded. “This is where it’s going to get dangerous,” he agreed. He looked around. “The portal home is going to be there, just beyond that copse. That’s where I’ll open it.” He waited for Superman to indicate understanding.

“I am Thor, the god of thunder.” Thor straightened and held his hand out to Superman, who took it and smiled. 

“I’ve heard a lot about you!” 

Thor cocked his head. It looked like he was going to ask the obvious question…actually there were several obvious questions. Instead he turned to Flash and introduced himself. Without waiting for the questions, though, Flash looked at Steve and Thor and said, “Different Earth. We’re just trying to keep it safe from Thanos.” Then to Superman, “She said for you to stay close to that area so we can split ASAP.”

Superman frowned. “I promised I would leave if it looked like we were losing. I didn’t promise I’d leave before facing off with Thanos.”

Steve and Thor watched the dialogue go back and forth. 

“She assumed that was the plan, though.”

“She assumed wrongly.”

Flash shook his head. His eyes widened. “You saw the way Hermes boosted her flight and speed. You saw the size of Ares and Athena. You’re Superman, but you’re not a god. Don’t get on her bad side; more importantly don’t get on the gods’ bad side; don’t forget that she’s a god, too. A lesser one, but still not someone to mess with.”

Steve held his hand up. “Wait, wait, stop.” Battle never gave him a headache. This conversation had his head in a vise. “Gods? Like the stuff we read about in school? Mount Olympus, Zeus, all that stuff?”

Superman turned to him. “You still don’t remember,” he said quietly. He sounded vaguely sad and sympathetic. “I’m sorry.” Then he looked at Flash, who also looked a little surprised and cautious. “She’s gonna be devastated.” 

Simultaneously, Thor and Steve asked, “Who?”

Superman put his hand on Thor’s shoulder and took him aside. They conferred in whispers as Steve watched them with his arms folded. Over his earpiece, he heard Natasha report that the last of the alien henchmen had been dealt with. Maybe it was over. Flash returned to his side, eyed him sympathetically, and glanced around. Across the field, a hole opened in the sky. The army of women retreated into it and the hole vanished. “She must have ordered a retreat,” Flash said to no one in particular. “She’ll want us to do the same. Kal’s not gonna be happy about it, but he doesn’t renege on his promises.” He sighed heavily. Then he said to Thor, "Uh, can I speak with you for a sec before all Hell breaks loose?" 

Steve tried not to be annoyed as he watched Superman, Flash, and Thor confer. Steve was in charge; he'd get Thor to let him know what was said. 

Thor looked slightly dazed when he turned to Steve.

“Who is ‘she’?” Steve finally asked. “Was she the general of that other army? Is she the one in charge of you two? Because we can’t have more than one person in charge. We need to have a hierarchy.”

Before he got a reply, the other two men joined them. Thor looked thoughtful. He held Steve’s gaze for a moment, expressionless, and then said to Superman, “She will be here, and there is no one I trust more to fight by my side. Go protect your world. Buffer yourselves from invasion. I concur with her judgment.”

“What is going on and who are you talking about?” Steve demanded, but Flash had already taken off. In the distance, bright red light streaked faster and faster until another hole in the sky appeared. 

Superman said, “It was an honor. Good luck.” Then, almost as fast as Flash, he shot off into the sky, through the portal, and it closed behind them. 

 

Then another problem materialized. He was at least as large as Hulk, gray, and wore a big, jeweled gauntlet on his hand.

***

Thor fell back to protect Vision and Steve braced himself against Thanos. He was incredibly strong. Bruce hadn’t been exaggerating. As he tried to hold him back, Steve felt the veins of his temples bulge and his face heat up. All of his body weight and strength were not going to be a match for him, and he wondered, as he struggled, why Thanos was toying with him. But the longer Steve kept him occupied, the more time he bought for the others. His body burned. He took another breath, steeled himself, and pushed harder. Then he stumbled forward because something yanked Thanos away from him. She did.

She didn’t acknowledge Steve. “Pick on someone your own size,” she growled, but the corners of her mouth crept upwards. She wanted this fight. “You wish to be a god? You wish to be a father of the gods? You are nothing.” She gestured to his gauntlet. “You depend on vestments and toys to achieve your ends. You are weak. And I will destroy you.” She walked backward as she taunted him, and he took the bait. The voice was familiar, but not the tone and not those kinds of words. Uncanny.

It wasn’t her. It wasn’t. The front of her costume consisted of a dark red, form-fitting bodice with a breastplate. A gold eagle design extended between her breasts and below her collar bones. Her belt, also gold, bore a similar motif over her blue leather skirt, whose panels each served, it looked like, as armor. She had silver bracers on her arms and a circlet on her brow. It was gold, and a star was etched into it. Her boots also looked armored, and they matched the bodice. It wasn’t her. No. As she drew him away, she held up her shield and reached back for her sword. 

No, no, no. Steve thought he might be sick as he stood there, paralyzed with his own cognitive dissonance. “Diana?” Just saying her name, just trying to apply it to the confident, almost cocky warrior in front of him made his throat tighten.

She didn’t look at him. She kept her eyes trained on Thanos. “Not now.”

Thanos stopped and laughed. “You! The daughter of the gods!” He extended his arm to her, as if offering shelter or protection. “I wonder if the realms of the gods, the real ones, will survive. I hope they do. There will be a period when all living beings will need the gods as they change their lives.”

Diana smirked and angled her sword. “It will not be a question answered. You are not a god. You are not entitled to make the decisions of a god.”

Thanos smiled at her. His smile was revolting and condescending. “Little goddess, I have no desire to be a god. I am here to serve. And that means making difficult decisions.” He raised his gauntlet hand and Diana charged him with a guttural war-cry. 

This was a mistake. Maybe he hit his head. He was hallucinating this. It wasn’t her.

Thanos looked at Diana, and the sword and shield disappeared from her hands. Most soldiers, relieved of their weapons during combat, knew enough to take evasive measures. Diana didn’t do that. Instead, she flew straight up, and up, and up in a completely vertical line, and then careened straight down. The area around them trembled as she landed on her feet in a crouch. Huge clumps of dirt and debris bounced up as the ground swelled and dipped into a shallow crater where she stood. Steve and Thanos both went flying backward and landed on their backs. Diana jumped up and tore head-on into Thanos. Thanos shouted with surprise as her boot smacked into his rib cage. Steve heard a crack—a rib snapping. She could hurt Thanos. She could cause major damage to this powerful, dangerous, and seemingly unstoppable enemy. 

She leapt back and braced herself to grapple. Thanos leveled his gauntlet toward her and unleashed a flurry of bullets from thin air. Steve yelled her name again, aghast. Diana didn’t flinch. Instead she…she actually smiled a tiny bit and knocked the barrage of ammunition harmlessly away with her bracers. Diana took a few menacing steps toward him. Then Thanos did something that Steve never, from what he’d heard about him, thought he would do. Thanos backed away. 

“I don’t want to kill a goddess,” Thanos said calmly. “Go in peace. I have no quarrel with you.”

“I have a quarrel with you, as does Mt. Olympus.”

Steve grabbed the opportunity given by the brief exchange. He circled behind him and charged, jumping up and kicking him in what he hoped was the kidneys. Thanos stumbled forward and spun around. He grabbed Steve by the collar. He heard Diana scream, “NO!” just before the impossibly heavy thwack of skin on skin and the world went black.

***

When Steve opened his eyes, Diana was gone. He got Vision’s location from Natasha and ran over to them. He was too late. Vision was a cold, silver heap of lifeless metal and Wanda knelt beside him sobbing. He was glad his head was still ringing. It was too much to process. And Thanos won. “Hey Steve,” Bucky said, coming around the corner, and then dissolved into ash. Sam followed. A lot of people did, until hardly anyone was left.

Steve slumped against a tree, speechless. “Oh god,” he managed. Bucky and Sam, his best friends, were gone. His only remaining link to his past simply disintegrated before his eyes. T’Challa was gone. Wanda was gone. Natasha, Bruce, Thor, and James all stood with their shoulders slumped, defeated. The brush rustled somewhere beyond them, and Thor turned around and kneeled, bowing his head. 

“Hello, youngster,” Diana said gently. She had been crying. Thor stood up and embraced her in a hug. “We shouldn’t have waited so long to see each other. Not like this,” she said into his shoulder. He nodded, kissed her cheek, and let her go over to Steve. 

He backed himself further against the tree. Thoughts weren’t quite happening. He saw pictures. A beach. Her face leaning over his, and he was getting cold. His face was wet. There was a jungle, marble, open-air structures with thick columns, and shrines to various goddesses. Hera. Most of the shrines were to Hera. “You…” he said, dumbstruck. “You…”

Diana knelt next to him. “Yes.” She reached her hand out and he instinctively startled. She withdrew her hand. 

“Steve,” Natasha said. Her voice was low and soft. “Steve. Hey. It’s her. It’s Diana. You know her. She wanted to tell you. She was afraid you’d go a little nuts if you didn’t remember on your own first…because she knows what you’re like, and the, uh, stuff that happened to make you forget, Hippolyta's spells, were super-powerful.”

Steve looked from Thor to Natasha to Diana again. He watched as Diana's battle costume dissolved. She was in a pink tunic. It was her favorite. She wore it all the time. Another memory came. He approached her at the shoreline. Her back was to him, and she pulled the tunic over her head, threw it aside, and jumped several yards ahead into the clearest, nearly turquoise sea. He averted his eyes, but not before he saw how absolutely perfectly shaped she was. It took his breath away…even that small glimpse.

Steve shook his head, wide-eyed, and stared straight ahead. “You.”

***

Diana wasn’t quite sure what to do. So she sat with him, saying nothing. She didn’t touch him. She didn’t even look at him. She didn’t deserve the privilege of doing those things, and he didn’t deserve any of this. His friends were gone. Half of the population was gone. She was sure Earth wasn’t the only casualty. They lost. And on top of that, she lost him, even though he was right here next to her.

“It’s because of the time stone,” Thor offered. “The combination of it and seeing you as you are.”

“Steve? Buddy? Say something.” Bruce had extricated himself from the armor. “Bruce Banner,” he said to Diana, holding out his hand, and then approached Steve, kneeling on the other side of him. He took his pulse. “C’mon, Cap. We’ll get through this. We’ll figure it all out.”

Steve opened his mouth and closed it again. His eyes were vacant, blue tunnels and his breath was shallow and slightly fast. Diana turned back to look at Thor. He nodded and said, “I think you need to.” 

She shifted to look at his face. There was no sign of recognition from him. She unhooked her lasso and held it in front of him. I’m going to put this over you,” she told him, and waited for acknowledgement. 

“Steve, is that okay? She’s gonna help. She’ gonna use that rope to help you.” Then he leaned past him and whispered loudly, “That rope’s gonna help him somehow, right?” Diana nodded once. The fields were eerily silent. No wind rustled through the remaining trees; no birds called out. None of this was okay. Half of the universe, possibly half of the multiverse, was gone…vanished at the snap of Thanos’ fingers.

Diana looped the rope around him and tightened the knot over his upper arms, just at his elbows. Steve seemed to seize for a few seconds, causing Bruce to reach for the lasso to remove it again, but there was a spark and pop as soon as he touched it, and he yanked his hand back in pain. Steve’s muscles softened. His jaw loosened, his shoulders dropped, and his breath got slower and deeper. She held one end of the rope in her hand and touched the fingers of her other hand to the space at the center of his brow. “Hold my hand,” she said quietly. “The gods have brought you to me. Hold my hand that I may heal you.” Steve automatically dropped his hand on top of Diana’s. “Remember now. Remember waking up. You were cold, and so many bones were broken. And then there was warmth, and sunlight, and you breathed. Tell me what happened next.”

Steve’s eyes were half-closed. “Promised. Promised Peggy. Red Skull. Stop Hydra. Oh god, Bucky, don’t. Bucky NO!” As his litany of responsibilities from 1943 lengthened, his agitation increased and his voice rose. Diana flattened her palm to his forehead and said, “Shhh…” He quieted again. “Where are you now? Remember with me.”

He mentioned her by name. “So beautiful. I don’t want to go and leave her behind.” Tears filled the corners of his eyes. “They need me. Come with me,” he whisper-begged. Then, “Hippolyta, Your Highness, please. Please don’t do this. You don’t have to do it. I swear I’ll take care of her. With my life. I love her. Please don’t.”

Diana scrunched her eyes to hold back tears. He knew, or at least suspected, what her mother had planned. Hippolyta must have dangled it over his head just for cruelty’s sake. Diana had never known her mother to be cruel. That was how much Hippolyta despised everything about Man’s World. That was how much the Queen of the Amazons resented the imposed presence of a mortal man, however noble, on her island. Hippolyta made Steve beg, even though she had no intention of changing her mind. Steve said goodbye to Diana thinking he would be able to find her again, because Hippolyta understood how he felt about her.

His eyeballs darted frenetically beneath their partly-closed lids. “How do you know when to stop, or if it works?” James asked. 

Diana looked over her shoulder at him. “I’ve never done anything like this before, except for once, on a different Earth, and it wasn’t completely successful. Then again, Steve isn’t struggling against me or lashing out violently like Kal-el was when I tried with him…when he was raised from his grave.” She probably said too much. Prolonged contact with the lasso, especially when she was so vulnerable herself, made her talk too much. She returned her focus to Steve. “Tell me what happened next.”

After an hour, Diana conceded that she’d done her best. She removed the lasso and Steve slumped over, unconscious.

“We need to assess the damage and make a plan,” James suggested. “Tony’s missing. We have to see if he’s still alive somehow and get with him.” He motioned to Thor and the two men went to Steve. Natasha helped pull Diana up and Bruce stood away. Balanced between Thor and James, they carried him back inside.


	8. Chapter 8

“I’m not even sure my gods will forgive me. There are a lot of things they can do,” Diana replied to Bruce and Natasha’s question. They may repudiate me. They may even punish me, either through some physical or other torture, or even by banishing me from Themyscira. They can strip away my immortality.” She tapped one finger on her thigh. “If he doesn’t come around, or if he abandons me as well, that last option is not really a punishment. Waiting a lifetime for it to happen would be my torture.

Natasha eyed her. “Histrionic much?”

“C’mon, Nat, give her a break. She helped us and she obviously cares about him.”

“I am not exaggerating, nor am I dramatizing,” Diana replied flatly. I spent more than seven decades alternating between hope and grief. You can’t just stop loving somebody because they don’t love you back. My life would be very different.”

Natasha and Bruce glanced at one another and then quickly turned their heads back toward Diana. “Well, I’m gonna go check up on him. Do either of you want to come along?”

“Sure,” Natasha replied. She looked over at Diana, extending her hand in invitation. “Coming?”

Diana just hung her head. “I don’t think I should.” When she was alone, she got up and looked through the window at the wreckage of this beautiful country. There was only one triumph, hopefully, in all of this: Kal and Barry got back. Bruce and the rest of them would be safe…unless they simply ceased to exist as well. They’d operated hoping that one universe was enough for Thanos. Diana didn’t dare send a prayer and petition to the gods to find out. Not after what happened. She’d never, in all of her millennia, faced such complete and utter failure in every conceivable way. What she deserved was a fate similar to Sisyphus: attempting a task over and over, almost achieving it, only to have the whole effort fall to pieces. Diana felt like falling to pieces. 

All of these deaths were at least in part and indirectly on her head. This was why she knew that Steve might never forgive her, or worse yet, might never fully recover. Thor was a god, almost. He had the strength of a near-immortal. He could thrive for a long time on vengeance alone and bear the weight of an entire galaxy on his back. He could almost be Atlas or Heracles if it became necessary. Steve was human, and even though he was an extraordinary human, he had more limitations. Steve tried to bear similar burdens. It was an unreasonable task to ask of any mortal, but he demanded it of himself. Diana knew without having to see him that he blamed himself for all of this…except for the pieces for which she was responsible in terms of their personal lives. On Earth 2, Bruce had been right about what would happen: all of it. She knew it was a possibility, but didn’t entertain it as a viable one. Steve said he loved her. He said he would love everything else he found out about her when the time was right to present them. That part was probably another, if not the final nail in the coffin for his sense of belonging or hopes for happiness: without his memories, he wouldn't have considered the possibility that Diana was much more than the persona she'd presented to him. That was all her fault: one hundred percent. She left the room and headed for her temporary quarters.

***

Steve paced around his room. After Natasha left, Bruce made it clear to him that he wasn’t being held hostage or under observation; there was nothing physically wrong with him. Bruce had suggested that Steve take some time to get his thoughts together and encouraged him to talk to Diana. “I’m definitely not trying to get in the middle of this,” Bruce explained. “But we’re going to need her. Don’t be like Nat and me and let a bunch of things go unsaid.”

Steve had turned to look at Bruce with that bit of advice. “You two work together just fine.”

Bruce fixed him with a “You’re an idiot” stare. “I bolted and spent two years in outer space as Hulk.” 

After Bruce left, Steve sighed and plunked back down on the bed. Over the past few hours, his missing memories had begun to sort themselves. Some of this was Hippolyta’s fault. She should’ve trusted her daughter to make her own decisions. And he had fallen hard for her back then, as well. They’d parted ways and he really hoped he’d find her again. At the time, Steve hadn’t even kissed Diana yet. He knew Diana felt the same, even though neither of them had said as much. He just knew it in his gut. But it was her fault for not telling him seven months ago. Steve understood her reasoning, but Diana still should have told him. He wasn’t sure how to gauge the levels of heartache, grief, and anger roiling through him right now, nor where they were even directed.

Meanwhile, every time Steve tried to relax and let his mind go blank, another memory would bubble up to the surface of his consciousness. In the last one he had, Diana and he had been walking along a not very well trodden path through the jungle as a shortcut to another part of the island. He’d been there about six or so weeks at that point and she was just starting to get a decent grasp of English. It started pouring, if you could even call it that. It was more like invisible people were dumping trough after trough of water over them. Rain fell not in drops, but sheets. Diana grabbed his hand and pulled him behind her as they ran to the nearest shelter: a very shallow indentation in a tall rock. It was hardly big enough for two people and she had shoved him in first before she tried to squeeze in.

It was more than a tight fit. They were both sopping wet. Her hair stuck to her face and shoulders and the fabric of her pale pink tunic was thin. He saw the shapes of everything through it, so he tried to look above her head at the rock wall behind her. But she was still getting drenched because of the way she’d pushed him in ahead of her. So he shifted, and put his hands on her waist. “Here, put your arms around my neck so I can move you,” he yelled over the downpour. He tried twice more but the rain was too loud. Eventually he squeezed his shoulders forward to grab her arms and manually put them behind his neck. She looked either confused or offended, he couldn’t tell, but he was trying to do the right thing. You didn’t let women stand out in the elements for too long. She got the message soon enough.

In their new arrangement though, she couldn’t take her arms from around him without popping them both out of their shelter. So they stayed like that, his arms around her waist and hers around his neck. Her tunic formed to her body and her breasts touched his wet t-shirt. She didn’t seem nearly as self-conscious about it as he did. But he became very aware of the rhythm of her breath and without deliberation, matched his own to it. He felt her heart beating against him. He tried to angle his hips back to avoid embarrassing himself and being rude to her. But he didn’t deny himself the opportunity to study her features. She had wide eyes, a straight, graceful nose, narrow, high cheekbones and a jaw that was just a tiny bit too sharp to make her face heart-shaped. The result was that she looked simultaneously delicate and determined. In retrospect, he’d hit it on the head with that one.

But she was so beautiful. She started rolling her head around and shrugging her shoulders. He figured out that she was trying to get hair out of her face so he used the hand closest to the rain to do it for her. He remembered her soft, wet cheek as he tucked the hair behind her ear. He knew things now about that spot behind her ear, and the curve of her neck, the hollow of her throat. But that all would have to wait until another lifetime went by. At the time, she smiled sweetly and said something to him. Her accent was still pronounced and he didn’t understand her over the storm. She leaned her head in closer, until they were almost touching noses. Even then, he took in her scent: flowers, sea, and sand. It almost made him feel intoxicated. She repeated her sentence. It was still no good. So she laughed and they touched their foreheads to one another. Then they both shivered. Her waist was suddenly electric to him. Touching it sent his nerve endings into a shooting spree all over his body. His other hand was still at the back of her head, and he didn’t realize that both their hips had floated toward each other on their own until he was almost between her thighs. He remembered the conflicting impulses that went along with it. He remembered the most recent time it happened, and there was no conflict whatsoever. They were almost kissing when the rain let up as quickly as it had begun. Several women were calling for her. She smiled again, disentangled herself, and shouted that she was fine.

Someone rapped on Steve's door and he didn’t answer. Then the handle turned and Thor poked his head in. “Hey,” Steve said expressionlessly. 

Thor pulled up a chair. “We have much to discuss and to do.”

Steve nodded. “When do you think we should round everyone up?” Honestly, he was feeling a little too defeated in addition to reeling from the emotional sucker-punch to make hard decisions. He needed a day, ideally, to sort himself out at least somewhat. He knew that wasn't a likely option, all things considered.

“Natasha and James think seventy-two hours. They are helping with clean-up and the headcounts right now.” 

"I should be doing that, too. " 

“Your job is to heal," Thor replied authoritatively.

“I heal fast. I’m already fine, I just need to be alone for a few hours unless there's an emergency.” This was true, and not enough “alone” had happened yet. Steve's mind was still reeling. Thor didn’t take the hint though. Or he ignored it.

They sat in companionable silence for a few minutes. He had a hundred questions for Thor, anyway, now that he was here. But didn’t even know where to begin. Eventually, he said, “So Diana and I, we were, uh…in a relationship and um, I didn’t…”

Thor cut him off. “You knew and cared for each other in the past, and you rediscovered those emotions in the present, in spite of Hippolyta and without context. I’ve known Diana all my life. She wasn’t sure what to do and the indecision tormented her. I haven’t even spoken about it with her, and I’m sure of her thinking in this matter.”

That was interesting news. “How do you know her?” 

Thor shrugged and gave up a half-grin. “Our mothers were social with each other. She used to babysit Loki and me…she was a good sport about it, in retrospect.” He smiled at the memory. “I can tell you stories, my friend.”

“Maybe some other time.” 

Looking past Steve and out the window, Thor told him, “I lost half, possibly more, of my entire planet’s population. Asgard lies in ruins. I watched Thanos run his sword through Heimdall’s trapped and injured body. He was my best friend. Then Loki tried to kill him, and Thanos strangled him to death before my eyes, and then dropped his lifeless corpse in front of my own bound body. I will never get them back.” He took a slightly shaky breath and his eyes misted.

“I’m sorry.” He thought to himself, ‘way to go, jerk.’ This wasn’t just about him. Perhaps, just maybe, other people hurt too. Friends had lost loved ones. Maybe Thor needed to vent about his own issues. He silently chastised himself as a selfish lout.

Thor turned back to face him. “Thank you. Diana is still here, as are you. The people I love are gone, possibly, probably, forever. I will never get to hold onto my grudge against and mistrust of Loki, thinking someday we would again truly be as brothers because our futures were long. You are not facing that particular pain…at least not with one of the two people who truly loved you. That is why I’m telling you this. “

“I appreciate it,” he replied, trying to keep his voice flat. And I understand where you’re coming from. Thanks.” He hoped the conciliatory attitude would make him leave, satisfied, and leave Steve to his stewing.

“She wanted you to know. She was aching for you to remember. She was afraid that simply showing you who she was and narrating your life would be confusing and detrimental. She was here for Thanos. But she remained here for you.”

Steve shifted on the edge of his bed to look Thor squarely in the face. This wasn’t high school. He didn’t need people to tag-team repair what they thought was damaged, no matter their good intentions. Not that he had experience with that in high school, anyway. But now morbid curiosity took hold. “Oh? I thought you hadn’t talked to her yet.” 

“Her friends, the ones from another Earth, could have taken her back. The one called Superman said they’d tried to convince her. Her army was accessible from either dimension. She wouldn’t be stranded one way or another.”

Fine, he’d implicitly taken the bait. The least Thor could do was not make him play twenty questions for things that he already had planned on answering. It was almost worse than the straight-up lecture because now he had to be an active participant in the dialogue. “Okay and…”

“Her official reasoning was that her gods brought her to this realm and brought her specifically to you. She claimed her duties lied with us.”

Thor looked at him. He was going to make him ask for the rest. He dropped his head into the basket of his shoulders for a moment, then looked back up at him. “What was the unofficial reason, then?”

“The one called Flash liked to talk.” Thor grinned again. He wasn’t usually gossipy, but he did like to talk a lot and found out things because of his combination of looks and affability. “Diana spent ten years in their world. She’d come to help with a conflict but stayed to help there. She made a life for herself. She had friends. She was part of a team similar to the Avengers with different people and powers, as I’m sure you surmised. They would have welcomed her back. They wanted her back. But one, in particular, had a vested interest.”

That made Steve sit up straight. His neck tensed he suddenly felt cold inside. It hadn’t dawned on him that she might have found someone else. Then again, he’d only started to remember everything a few hours ago…and she told him she was a virgin. Like him. “He wooed her relentlessly. They became close friends. But she, as Flash so quaintly put it, ‘only had eyes for you.’ Bruce Wayne loved her. He tried to convince her to move on, believing you would have died by now. She wouldn’t hear of it. She never gave up. Knowing her for as long as I have, and knowing her recent history are how, without having spoken to her about this, I know beyond doubt that when I say she was torn, and that her emotions got the better of her, it is an accurate statement.”

“Are you telling me all of this for a reason? I’m pretty sure we have more serious matters at stake than my personal life.”

“It is a serious matter because you have a personal life,” Thor replied. Natasha and Bruce had just argued a similar point. He wondered if they’d planned this, and imagined installing a revolving door to his room if he stayed here long-term. “And also,” he continued, “Because she will never tell you herself. She would never want to put you in a position of feeling guilty or obligated.”

“Look,” Steve said seriously. His head roasted from the inside. He was having enough trouble already with all of it: Bucky. Sam. Wanda. T’Challa. Diana. The entire cosmos. “I appreciate what you’re doing. But she lied by omission even after we got close. She kept incredibly vital information from me, she used my feelings for her to get a foot in the door with the team, and apparently didn’t trust me to absorb the information, or keep her secret, or whatever.” He hadn’t formed these words in his mind until now. Anger. And hurt. He was feeling angry with and wounded by Diana. How could he trust her now?

“What would you have done, my friend, if the situation were reversed? Would you have strode up to her and said, “Hi! You don’t know me, but nearly a century ago we were lovers. I miss you a lot, and in case you don’t remember, I’m a bonafide goddess and want to help out with the next oncoming crisis?”

“She could’ve said something once we got to know each other better.”

“And then what?” Thor waited for him to answer. When he didn’t supply one, he said, “Knowing you, you would have doubted her sanity, then your sanity, then tried to find truth in her words, possibly to the point of doing something dangerous. Hippolyta is, as you remember, a powerful sorceress among other things. She suppressed part of your conscious mind. Diana wouldn’t have known how to undo that gradually and safely. You were incoherent for five hours after seeing her and then exposure to her lasso.” He softened his tone. “She loves you. She thought she was protecting you. I doubt it had anything to do with trust.”

They were quiet again. What he really wanted, still, was privacy. Diana and Thor had him pretty well pegged, he admitted to himself. Now he had more questions, but probably only Diana could tell him about the other Earth, and who this other Bruce was. But he warmed again at the news that she kept looking and kept hoping. He rubbed his hand over his face and then through his hair. “Thanks, Thor.” 

Thor nodded and left quietly.

***

Diana watched the brilliant white light fade. She dangled her feet over the edge of the bed and stared at the floor. Hermes had brought her petition to Zeus, Himself. And, Hermes had just told her that Zeus granted it. He handed her a flask full of something amber-colored and syrupy. She gagged at its molasses-thick, too-sweet texture and taste as she swallowed the entire thing in three gulps. She felt lightheaded and dizzy, then suddenly heavy and exhausted, as if something had been pulled out of her forcibly. It was done. She was still a goddess in every sense now, except that she could be mortally wounded, and she would, if the Fates allowed, eventually, more gradually than most humans, grow old. If Steve didn’t want her, she would not have to endure an eternity of regret. Her consequence for failure was a blessing as well as a curse.

She chastised herself because Steve was the focus of her introspection and worry in spite of all that happened today. So many lives were snuffed out. Her friend Thor’s brother was murdered. She was supposed to help stop all of this from happening and failed. Maybe her mind’s insistent, singular priority was one person because the rest of the scale was too much to bear…too much to even comprehend. She reached over and grabbed her phone. Then she thought better of it. Looking at headlines would make things worse.

Maybe it was because now, especially now, those who remained needed each other. And she had needed him for so very long. He was here. He didn’t turn to ash. So that was significant. He was alive, and where there was life, there was hope. Nevertheless, she’d messed up that relationship in a rather spectacular manner. She wanted more than hope, she wanted assurances. She supposed everyone wanted that, though.

She decided that was enough feeling sorry for herself for one day. Her loved one was alive. Others, through all of known life, had lost everything. It was always worse for those who were left behind. She stood up and pulled her hair back with the scrunchie she’d been wearing on her wrist. Natasha had told her to take some time, not to worry yet about helping the Wakandans. There would be endless opportunity for that. But, she decided, it was time to move her focus to others and stop being selfish. 

She looked around for her boots. She glanced at the clock as she leaned down to search under the bed. It was already nine at night. It was too dark to help with the clean-up. Diana plopped back down on the bed, and then unceremoniously flopped onto her back, letting her legs dangle over the edge again. She yanked her hair free and rubbed her palms over her face. She felt tears trickle from the corners of her eyes, past the hills and valleys of her outer ears, and onto the coverlet beneath her. Today was sad. It was horrible. It was okay to grieve all of it, she told herself. 

A heavy weight somewhere in the center of her being ballooned and forced out a gigantic sob. She didn’t try to fight it. She didn’t have any more fight left for today. So the sorrow undulated through her abdomen, filled her throat, and exited through her mouth in quiet cries and shuddery gasps. There were too many tears for her eyes to accommodate. They kept coming and coming. She grabbed onto her opposite arms as if she would be carried away by a stream of sorrow and pain otherwise. She didn’t care if the sentiment was histrionic. She’d never known this level of suffering in her five thousand years.

And that was how Steve found her when he knocked on her ajar door and closed it behind him. She didn’t even hear him at first. She felt his weight displace the bed when he sat next to her. He gathered her up against his chest and held her there. 

Diana clung to his shirt and got it wet. She couldn’t stop shaking or crying. Steve didn’t say a word at first. He rubbed her back and rocked her slowly. After some time passed, he said, softly, “I know. I know. Get it out. I know.” Eventually she ran out of energy to cry and after that, the shaking subsided. Steve peered around and pulled her from his chest to look at her. He didn’t look angry. In fact his eyes were soft. He smiled at her sadly. He kissed her forehead. Then he guided her head back to his chest and stroked her hair. “We’ll figure it out. All of it. This isn’t the end.”

Diana sniffled and tried to keep her voice from breaking. “For the universe or for us?” she asked into his shirt. Her stomach twisted and clenched when she voiced the second part of the question. 

She pulled away on her own and looked up at him. Her lower lip trembled and her eyes were puffy, and she couldn’t do anything about it, she knew. Her defenses and her pride were just gone: trampled into dust. He was holding onto a wrecked vessel. “For the universe, I hope so. For us, definitely. No question.” Then he gave her what she was sure was a forced smirk. “What, you think that just because I found out there’s a slight age difference between us I’d walk away?” Her entire body softened. Suddenly Diana was very, very tired. “C’mere,” he said. He stood up and held his hand out. When she took it, he pulled her to stand as well and led her into the bathroom. He ran a washcloth under cold water from the sink and dabbed her face over and over until she was sure she was out of tears. 

She didn’t even know what to say. She was a little afraid to say anything. She’d never felt herself to be so fragile before. Steve scooped her up and laid her down on the bed. “Get some rest.” 

She felt her eyes widen and her insides chill. She stared up at him, alarmed. “I’ll still be here,” he assured. “But you got my shirt all wet.” He offered another small smile and peeled off his t-shirt. “And you got the beard pretty wet, too.” He scrunched up the shirt, dabbed his face a few times, and then tossed it on the floor before climbing into bed with her. He curled his knees against hers and pulled her back to his chest. Diana reached for his hand and threaded her fingers through his. “I won’t go anywhere. I’m right here,” he reiterated, and kissed the back of her neck. “I promise.”

Diana wanted to stay awake but was losing that battle as well. It was okay. He promised. She felt his heart thump slowly and evenly into her back and his warm, clean breath on the back of her neck. She felt heavy. Her bones and muscles sagged into the mattress and she couldn’t keep her eyes open. She let them close. She listened to his heart and his breathing until gradually, with more and more assurance that she would not wake up alone, she allowed herself to drift off to sleep.


	9. Chapter 9

Steve didn’t completely keep his promise. Once he was sure Diana was deeply asleep, he tiptoed back to his room, shoved a few things into his bag, and returned. Thor was right. They were still here. If he stayed angry enough to not see her again, he’d still think there was time to set things right one day. Recent events proved otherwise. He didn’t want to rush anything, especially now, but he was done hesitating, too.

He climbed back into bed carefully and wrapped himself around her from behind. This wasn’t quite what Steve had in mind when they’d talked about getting into bed. Diana was more fragile than the way she presented herself. He remembered that from 1943. He’d understood her status and power, and amazed at the time at the confidence and authority she exuded on Themyscira. But when they were alone, he realized they were more alike than she let on. She was emotional. He kept things close to the vest now, in this century, but before Howard Stark’s joint experiment with the military, he too, wore his heart on his sleeve. Her emotions were huge, wholehearted, and pure. There was nothing false about her. Clueless as he was about women, he knew Diana loved him even then. He was sure of that by the last week or two he was on Themyscira. Saying goodbye to her was one of the hardest things he ever had to do. It was the same when they met in Europe a few months ago. They both just “knew,” and the same, hollow ache bubbled up inside him when he thought he might have to leave her behind. 

Meanwhile, Diana’s breath was finally slow, full, and even. This day was hard for her, too: maybe even as hard as what Thor had experienced. A good third of her forces turned to dust before they made it to their portal, and more of them died in battle. They were willing soldiers, just like his own men and the ones he commanded today, but being in charge made you responsible for all those lives. Death weighed heavily on them both. On top of that, Steve never, obviously, wanted to disappoint his commanding officers or fail a mission, but Diana was beholden to actual gods. She was a soldier, a general, for God, created and appointed specifically to protect them. 

Flash had said something about the gods having visited her directly, which she said on Themyscira never, ever happened in her lifetime. This was enormous for her. Steve understood that she felt this day to be an enormous failure on her part. There was no way he could shoulder all of it. Steve wasn’t even ready to flatter himself by thinking that just because she knew it wasn’t over between them, her burdens of shame and guilt, along with grief, would lift. But he felt better knowing she loved him. 

Diana stirred and rolled over, draping a calf over his and resting her hand on his waist. He’d never actually seen her fight before. Steve knew Diana was powerful, but so were the rest of her people. However, the rest of her people didn’t have gifts from a pantheon of gods, like her. Diana saved him at least twice today. She inhaled deeply and her eyes fluttered, then shut again. Steve kissed her forehead and she smiled sweetly without opening her eyes. He wouldn’t have been able to stay away long even if his friends hadn’t come to talk to him. He slumped down and laid his head on his arm. They were alive right now. She once said to him that all anyone ever has is a moment. This moment, they were here like this.  


***

Diana’s eyes flew open. Startled, she jerked upright and glanced around, heart pounding, respiration quick. The room was relatively small, about the size of a small hotel room. Its walls were at the yellow end of cream-colored; the furnishings, including the bed and coverlet, were white. Through the window, she saw that it was pitch-black outside. There were no stars. Next to her was an indentation on the bed where someone had been sleeping. Steve. Steve wasn’t there. Oh Aphrodite, please, no, not him as well! Fear swelled from her stomach and filled her completely. “NO!”

A toilet flushed. Steve came running from the bathroom, yanking his waistband up as he approached. “What happened? What happened?” He scanned the room and peered through the window.

“You weren’t here. One minute you were next to me and the next, you’d disappeared.” Diana's voice felt thick, as if it were liquid instead of air. 

“I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere without you.”

“I’m not immortal anymore.”

Steve took a step back. “Pardon?”

She looked at him intently. “I don’t want to be without you anymore. I don’t want to be an immortal goddess. I’m still powered and still Olympus’ Champion, but I won’t be forever. What I want, what I always wanted, is just to be with you. To not lose you. I just want you.”

“Diana I don’t even know what to say…I…”

“You don’t have to say anything.”

Steve folded his arms and regarded her. He knitted his eyebrows and drummed his fingers absentmindedly on his forearm. “If the situation were reversed, I’d probably do the same thing if I came up with it. I don’t want to be without you, either. You will never have to worry about that.”

“You’ll stay? Will you stay tonight?”

Steve sat at the edge of the bed and then hoisted his feet up. He pushed himself up against the headboard and folded his fingers over her hand. “Still here. Still not leaving.” He smiled gently. Diana scanned him up and down, reassuring herself. Then she slid back down, tugging at his arm. Steve slid down next to her and they rolled over to face each other. “I said I’d stay with you. I only left once for a couple of minutes to grab stuff from my room.” 

Diana nodded her head. Her first gut response was that he’d faded away like so many others. He just had to pee. She laughed at herself quietly. 

Steve smiled back. “It’s good to see you smile.” He leaned closer in and kissed her lightly on the mouth.

She pushed back with her mouth and they shifted toward one another. She hadn’t wanted their first time doing this to be from a place of sorrow or fear, or even of comforting one other from those things. But Steve's lips were warm and soft, as was his breath, and when he closed his mouth over hers completely, she opened hers in response. His breath was how she remembered it: warm, somewhat wet, and smelling like mint and of outside somehow. It had only been two or three days. It felt longer than that. He slid his tongue into her mouth and wound it over and around hers. The ball of fear at the pit of her stomach began to dissolve. 

They threaded their thighs over one another, and a tingling rush blossomed from her clitoris and spread through her abdomen and up to her throat. Her breasts pressed through her bra and t-shirt against the hard planes of Steve's bare chest. Every time he took a breath, Diana's nipples hardened a little more on contact, and wonderful little shivers streamed through the boundaries of her skin. She stroked her palm over his shoulder, the solid muscles in his arms, and along the sloping lines of his waist. Everything about him was large, firm, and steady. She opened her mouth wider and sucked his lips, then his tongue, as if she could pull him into her. He moaned into her mouth. The sound traveled from her throat all the way down between her legs, where her insides began to rock softly. She pulled away from the kiss and whispered, “I love you.”

He smiled and opened his eyes. He whispered back, “Is it a secret?” 

Diana laughed. “No. I don’t know why I was whispering.”

“Good, because I love you too.” He kissed her again and her hips automatically swung toward him. He pushed his hips forward in response. Warmth and hardness filled her from the outside-in where they touched. Perhaps it didn’t matter that they were here because they were grieving. Steve still loved her. That was cause enough to celebrate, at least for now. The head of his penis pressed her panties and sweatpants into her through his own clothes. For a second, Diana couldn’t even breathe. She slid her hand over Steve's outer hip and grabbed the flesh between his butt and his thigh. He sighed audibly and closed his mouth over the back of her jaw. He touched the tip to the space behind her ears, and alternated between nibbling and licking down her neck. She smiled. He did that because she mentioned that she liked it. Steve sat up and pulled her up with him. “Are you sure? Do you want to do this now?” His voice, like hers, was hoarse and raspy.

Diana was sure. Her panties and probably her pants were soaked and it was an act of will to keep from tearing at him in an almost Bacchanalian frenzy. She couldn’t quite find her voice but she nodded quickly. Oh yes. Now.

*** 

Diana’s eyes were almost all pupil. She nodded her head. “Okay.” He took her face between her hands and kissed her very gently, very tenderly, and then extricated his tangled up limbs from hers. “Just a sec.” He got up and headed for the chair where he’d left his bag and dug through it. He knew they were in here, he’d never taken them out before he grabbed the pack and left the hotel room. “Don’t go anywhere, he said over his shoulder. It was probably unnecessary to say that. His pants were stretched to an embarrassing length; hopefully, the fabric wasn’t going to sag there forever after this. Why did something like that cross his mind right now? His hands shook as he rummaged around until his fingers brushed a small, cardboard box. “Got it!” 

Steve set the box of condoms on the nightstand. Okay, NOW this was happening. The door was locked; the lights were dimmed; he considered turning off his phone and thought better of it. Diana sat in the middle of the bed cross-legged, watching him. Color had returned to her cheeks and her lips parted in an almost-smile. She looked about as bewildered as he felt. Here we go. Okay. Wow. Catching her eyes made him freeze for a second. This couldn’t be that complicated; people did this all the time. God, she was beautiful. 

Diana tilted her head to one side. “Are you okay? You’ve been standing there for a few seconds.”

Because he was just. that. suave. “I’m uh…I’m a little nervous,” Steve confessed. 

“Me too. Although, the view from here is lovely.” Diana smiled widely at him. There was no reason whatsoever for her to be nervous; she was amazing. 

He tugged at his waistband, then he stopped. “Do uh, did you want to do this part?” He felt that familiar heat creep up into his neck. Thankfully, it did nothing to lessen his erection. She nodded her head again and he got into bed. He sat across from her and propped himself against the headboard again.

Diana immediately wrapped her arms around Steve's torso and squeezed tightly. “Does it need to be this second?” She looked up at him. If not for the genuine-looking expression on her face, he’d have feared his confession was a turn-off and that she had second thoughts. 

Just as that thought came and went it dawned on him: maybe women needed a little more time to be ready, whatever “ready” meant. He smiled down at her and kissed the bridge of her nose. “No. There’s no rush.” 

It must have been the answer she’d wanted because Diana kissed the space between his collar bones and smoothed her hands over his chest and abdomen. Every nerve in Steve's body sparked. He slid his hands under her shirt and she raised her arms for him to pull it off of her. It was a different bra this time. This one was lavender colored and the flesh of her breasts was visible through the nearly transparent fabric and lace. His breath caught. At least he knew what to do this time. He held her breasts and, through the fabric, kissed one nipple at a time. They were so tight and hard that they were almost sharp. He smoothed his palms up from along her waist to the sides of her breasts and then walked his fingers to the center of the back strap. He felt around. There were no hooks. Not again.

Diana leaned in to kiss him again. “This one has a clasp in the front.” He froze for a moment. As with last time, he was still shocked that any of this was actually happening. His fingers trembled as he traced his fingers around the tops of her breasts where the lace and skin met. Being able to see what he was doing made things a little easier, but not that much. 

“It’s okay to pull it forward.” 

Steve slid his finger underneath the clasp from the bottom and pulled it forward. His finger just made direct contact with her breast. His stomach juddered. After a little more fumbling, he released the clasp and carefully pushed the cups off of her breasts. Diana slid one strap off at a time and let it fall behind her.

He felt his eyes widen and now his entire body was shaking. Diana's breasts were gorgeous. Not that he had anything to compare them with, but he was speechless for a moment. Pre-come began to surface. He couldn’t even remember his name. He probably would have sat there catatonically had she not, just like last time, whimpered, “Please.”

Steve cupped her breasts in his hand. They were cool and firm. He couldn’t quite bring himself to touch her nipples yet. Instead, he pulled her closer and kissed her deeply. He pulled away and felt tears on his cheeks. They were his. She nuzzled her head under his chin. “I love you, Diana. I always have and I’m so sorry for all of this: for today, for not remembering you, for freaking out on you. I love you more than anything. I love you."

The three words made him lightheaded, as if holding them inside even for a day had been weighing him down and he was suddenly free of the burden. Diana straddled his lap and then folded her legs behind him. Her hands cupped his face. She kissed him deeply, and he was hard against her bare abdomen. Her middle, like the rest of her, was so taut and strong, yet so soft and inviting simultaneously. Steve's heart pounded its fists to escape from his rib cage. He didn’t know in what measures the pounding was from desire or apprehension. His brain, however, was a few steps behind his body. His body knew exactly what it wanted to do and he pushed harder against her as she pulled herself closer in with her thighs. She pressed her fingers onto his scalp and scrunched his hair in a loose fistful. His whole body lit up. 

He felt more pre-come spill from his slit and drip down his length. He’d never felt so full in his life. She tore her mouth from his and pressed her teeth and lips against his neck. He revised the earlier thought. He never realized just how full he could feel, because he was going to burst apart at the seams from happiness and arousal. He instinctively lowered his head and opened his mouth against her shoulder. He pressed one hand between her shoulder blades and the other to the small of her back. She pulled her head back and looked straight at him. Her pupils were huge and her lips were dark and swollen from his biting them. Her tan skin was warmer now, and pink. His hands were on her body. She was here with him, and their skin touched almost everywhere from the waist up. Steve forced himself to get out of his own head as much as he could, but the wonderment remained: his hands were on her skin, and hers were on his. Her nipples pressed against his chest and they were taut little points. Pretty soon he was going to put his thumbs on them. Finally. He pulled her in to kiss her again and she pressed against him even more urgently. Her hips rocked against him. He slid his hands along the outer edges of her breasts again and her breath quickened. She threw her head back and moaned. His balls and penis were completely full. There was no way he could get any fuller without straining something, and that sound she made electrified him. 

She reached under his waistband and touched her finger to the top of his penis. That was enough. Without enough warning his entire body jolted and squeezed. He didn’t even have time to warn her. His breath slowed. Their abdomens were wet and sticky and his pants were wet. “Oh god Diana I’m so sorry.” This entire scene turned on a dime from the happiest moment of his life to a mortifying nightmare. It would’ve been better, at least for his ego, if the emergency phone had gone off again. He looked down, to the side, anywhere he could but directly at her. He felt hot and knew beyond doubt how furiously he was blushing. “I can’t even tell you how sorry I am.” She didn’t say anything. She didn’t even pull away from him immediately. Her hips rocked more and more slowly and she continued to kiss him. She kissed his forehead, both his temples, and his mouth. He kept his mouth closed. He definitely didn’t deserve anything beyond a small kiss. What just happened didn’t warrant further contact or attention from her at all. “I am so, so, sorry,” he repeated. She touched her brow to his and rounded her spine so that her belly pulled off of his. There was a slight popping sound from the ejaculate all over them. She traced circles in the sticky semen stuck to his abdomen. She didn’t look upset. In fact she seemed mesmerized. “Diana let me just apologize…” 

“In women it stays mostly inside,” she interrupted, wondrously. “In women, when they arrive to completion, it doesn’t come out like that, usually.” This didn’t bother her. On the contrary, she was fascinated. Bodies and bodily functions weren’t awkward or shameful to her. She drew a few more circles on him and then extricated herself from his lap. She padded into the bathroom. He watched the way her hips swayed, the perfect, upside-down heart shape of her buttocks through her sweatpants, the glossy black hair swish across her back. He messed up again. He wanted to cry. He pulled the mess he made of his pants off and tossed them on the floor. The water in the sink ran for a few moments and then she returned with a wet washcloth.

Steve did his best not to avert his eyes. He’d never really tried to control…’it’ before because there had never been any reason to. And he literally just blew what should have been a beautiful moment. Now it was gone. Diana gestured for him to scoot back so he pushed himself backwards and sat against the pillows. Then she straddled him more loosely and touched the washcloth to his forehead. He mumbled, “Thanks,” and reached for it, but she gently pushed his hand away. She touched it to his forehead. It was warm and soft. She wiped his brow, then his cheeks, then his jaw. As far as he knew his neck and face hadn’t been within firing range, but he couldn’t be absolutely certain. She didn’t spend a disproportionate amount of time on his beard, so hopefully that meant they’d been spared. If she didn’t seem so intent on cleaning his mess, he’d be even more embarrassed. But three times she insisted, quietly and earnestly, that she wanted to do this. In fact she nearly begged, as if it were a privilege. Or as if it were a favor to her. Oh dear god. His muscles softened. Pretty much everything was soft now, he scolded himself. But Diana seemed content. She circled the warm cloth over his chest, abdomen, and belly, breathing softly and evenly. He closed his eyes. She gently lifted his balls and wiped around them, then stretched his penis with equal gentleness and cleaned it off as well. 

After about ten minutes, when she was satisfied with her work, she scooted closer to him again, kissed his throat, and whispered, “You’re so beautiful.” He tried not to cry. Dear lord, that would just make things more awkward. She still didn’t seem at all affected that he ruined things, though. She brushed her nipples across his chest and kissed him. He was half-erect again just from that little bit of contact. He whispered back that he loved her. He wondered how much more he could possibly get wrong today. It was about ten thirty and the possibilities were infinite up to midnight.


	10. Chapter 10

Diana was obviously, blissfully oblivious to his discomfort with the situation. She remarked again at how beautiful she thought he and his premature ejaculation were. She kissed him more firmly and opened his mouth with hers. Her breath was still warm and sweetly spiced and he held her closer again. Within a few moments he was once more erect. He was determined to do better this time. He once again held her breasts in his hands. He was braver this time. He walked his fingers closer in until they grazed her nipples and she inhaled sharply. They sharpened to tiny points. He scooted forward with her and laid down. He kissed her belly and hooked his fingers under the waistband of her pants, and, as he slid them over her hips, her panties. They left a shiny, wet trail down her inner thighs. The silky fabric itself was drenched. She pushed her hips up again. Then she rolled on top of him and sat astride his thighs. He glanced his hand against her soft, well-defined abdomen. How could anyone be so strong and so soft at the same time, he wondered again? She leaned in and he fluttered his fingers over her belly, through the warm trail between her breasts, damp with sweat and probably also tears, and hopefully not ejaculate, and over her throat. It also was soft, hollow and slightly damp. She closed her eyes and sighed quietly when he traced his finger around the bones of her throat, slid his fingers back down between her breasts, skimmed them over her abdomen, and then out to her hip, where he settled them over the soft cushion of flesh between her hip and her buttock. 

With his other hand, he cupped the acute curve of her waist and rib cage, and slid it around her breast. He used a firmer touch this time. He thought her breasts would be a lot harder. Instead they were full, soft, and firm at the same time. Her entire body was a living, tactile masterpiece. He wanted to hold her whole body in his hand. Her breath caught when his thumb brushed her nipple and she fell onto her heels. He pushed up into her as she lowered herself onto him, and they sank into each other. It took their breaths away for a moment. He was inside her. They were one entity breathing and he never wanted to find the boundaries of his own body again. They found a rhythm and slowly rolled their hips together. She squeezed and released over and over, slowly. She was wet. He’d never given much thought to how women’s bodies actually responded to sex. The more they rocked together, the wetter she got. It was incredible. Every time they surged into each other he dissolved just a little more as well: every hesitation he’d felt, every doubt he’d thought of, dissipated. Her face was un-creased, her eyes closed softly, and her lips were parted. She panted softly, occasionally making soft, high-pitched whimpering sounds. He wanted to go on like that forever. He thought he could manage it this time, maybe. But when he touched his fingers to the very place just above where their bodies merged, her mouth fell open completely, she squeezed tightly, her hips rocked faster, and she gasped loudly and called his name. He held his fingers there and traced around that spot a few more times until she began to writhe and her breath stuttered.

He rolled on top of her. The boundaries between their bodies didn’t even exist anymore. He wasn’t just going to come; his entire body was going to burst. Her insides tightened around him and squeezed harder and faster as he pushed deeper. Every time his groin pushed against her she shook and moaned. The front of his pelvis rubbed against that place: the one that made her nearly lose control altogether. The more he did it, the more frenzied she became. They were both slick with sweat and he purposely glided over her, making as much contact as possible, again and again. She wasn’t only wet on the inside, her thighs and his were beyond drenched. He couldn’t get close enough and he knew that no matter what he wanted, things would come to a crisis point for him sooner than later. He fought it. He just wanted to keep watching and listening. He wanted to lose his way inside of her.

Pressure built up from his balls to the base of his penis to just below his head more powerfully than he’d ever felt. The head felt huge and engorged. “I don’t know how long,” he gasped, but she sealed off his insecurity with her mouth and swallowed it. Her insides squeezed around him more tightly than he imagined possible and she bore down on him. Her hips pushed against him faster and faster until she suddenly froze and gasped sharply, her whole body drawing him into her core. Then her hips and thighs undulated in enormous, rapid waves. When she climaxed, her hips rolled against him so hard that their bones knocked against each other. She shouted his name along with a litany of gods and some words that he didn’t understand. He fell to pieces. His whole body was molten, and so was hers. Neither of them were in control, they were both overwhelmed with the sensation of wholeness and release. They clung to one another until they stopped moving altogether.

They didn’t say anything for a while after that. He was pretty sure they’d dozed off. In fact, he had to glance over at the clock and then blink a few times to verify this had just happened. Sixty-two minutes ago, he made love with Diana, Princess of Themyscira. It had been a horrid and bizarre day, and it would have disappointed but not surprised him if the evening’s events all took place in his head. But there was no way he could have come up with how it felt to be with her like that. Diana was right there, naked and beautiful, laying on her side, watching him. He smiled at her. This was real. “Hi,” she whispered.

“Hi,” he whispered back. He kissed her. It was the same, familiar, spicy-sweet scented breath and the same soft lips. This was definitely all real. He turned onto his back again so she could rest her head on him. Instead, she shifted closer and propped herself up on her arm. “You good?” he asked, looking over at her.

“We saw horrors we could never have imagined today. You lost your best friends. You found out that an entire, important portion of your life had been stolen from you. Are you okay?” 

“I’m here with you. It’s a good way to end; a good way to start. I haven’t processed the rest completely.”

She nodded. She touched her index finger to the center of his brow and traced it around his cheekbones, the bridge of his nose, and the edges of his ears. Then she pressed it lightly against his lips. He kissed her finger. She smiled and traced over his jaw. The emotion in her touch and concentration was palpable. She pressed two fingers over his Adam’s apple just a little too hard and he suppressed a slight gag. She withdrew her fingers, looking startled. Steve closed his eyes. “It’s okay,” he told her.

She continued. She traced big circles around his pecs. She circled the pad of her finger over one nipple and then the other and it sent a shiver straight down to a place deep past his belly and made him half-hard again. She ran her finger along every rib and every abdominal muscle. 

Before she went any lower she moved her hand to his forearm and traced down the delineations of muscle. Then he tugged her in closer and kissed her again. She couldn’t erase today, but it was okay. Being with her right now was a perfect moment in a day that otherwise would have made him wish he had died on the field. She lingered over his mouth and then she let his hand go. She rested her palm over his belly. He tried to stay still even though his body wanted to move again. Kissing her made him want to hold her tighter. He’d resisted the impulse until today. Thank god she didn’t give up on him, whichever god that was, for so many decades. She made circles on his belly, first small and then spiraling wider, until her fingers grazed the tip of his penis. He took a couple of deep breaths, willing himself not to react. 

She traced the underside of his head with the back of her fingernail and just barely touched the tip. He was fully at attention now. His abdomen clenched to stay in control. Regardless of what his body wanted, the rest of him wanted her to continue. There was something sacred about this moment and he didn’t dare upset it. It wasn’t just that what she was doing felt incredible. She was communicating by touching him. He made his body still enough to listen. She slid her finger down his length and traced down the center and around the circumference of his balls. 

She closed her hand around the shaft. “Like that?” she asked.

“She’s trying to learn what I like,” he realized. It almost made him tear up again. He felt himself blush and forced himself to answer the question. Her touch actually made it a little easier. “Further up. It’s mostly the round part and just below it, yup, right there, oh.” She lay her palm over the head again and pressed around it gently. Then she lightly circled her index finger around the slit at the top. Steve shuddered and reached down to take her hand away. He held it to his chest. “She loves me,” he said in his head again, still incredulous. “But not yet,” he told her. 

She looked at him earnestly and told him, “I want to see what happens…how it works. I didn’t get to the first time; I only felt it.”  
That made him smirk. Not only was she not upset about that first, false start; she wanted a replay. “I wouldn’t get your face too close if I were you!” he joked. She didn’t appear to understand why. He sighed and let it go. 

“Can I uh…” he gestured toward her with his hand. “Um can I…” Evidently, even with so little left between them, he had trouble using his words. He tried not to dwell on how silly he felt about having to ask, after all this. “Do I get a turn?” 

She leaned in and kissed him. He let her slide her tongue past his lips and then he followed suit. When she pulled away she smiled down at him and said, “Of course.”

He guided her onto her back. He moved in closer and followed the same path she did, starting with her hairline and eyelids. Even while his fears screamed at him, the artistic part of his brain, along with wanting to do whatever it took to make her stay, spurred him on. Her cheekbones and jaw were delicate and perfect, the bridge of her nose just a tiny bit concave, nostrils perfectly proportioned. He ran his finger over and around her upper lip, then the lower one. They too were perfect and slightly full. By now it was a familiar as well as exhilarating landscape: the thin bones around the hollow of her throat, the tops of her shoulders. He’d been aching to touch his mouth and hands to the bare tops of her shoulders since they first met. Now that he had, he was sure he’d never be able to do it enough. 

Her clavicles and breasts still needed more exploration. He traced the tops of her clavicles from the center outward, and then the bottoms of them. He used his fingers and then his palm to learn the shape and texture of her breasts. They were smooth and cool to the touch. He was mesmerized. When he circled around her small, dark pink nipples she inhaled sharply and relaxed. A smile hovered around the edges of her mouth. “Can I?” he asked. Her eyes were closed. He’d already done this earlier. He wasn’t sure why he felt like he needed permission to do so again. “Yes,” she replied almost prayerfully. “Please.” Even though her breasts were firm, they gave way, like cushions. She jumped a little when he touched her nipples. He steadied his breath and lowered his mouth onto one while he continued to slide his fingers over the other. She sighed and smiled when he took his mouth away and switched sides. Licking and nibbling around her breasts made her hips rock very subtly.

There was more to discover, he knew, but by now their hips were rocking towards each other. He wasn’t ready for the moment to end. He slid his thumbs along her hip bones and across her belly. He watched, captivated, as her hips rolled gently in his hands. He skimmed his thumbs around the insides of her hips and she lifted into them. He wasn’t entirely sure what to do from there. Was it rude to put his fingers down in there, or his mouth? His men used to talk about those things in the crudest of terms and he thought it sounded disgusting. He was second-guessing that assessment now. What was the protocol? It had to be clear to her by now that not only had he not done this before, but he also had no idea what he was supposed to do.  


She must have sensed his hesitation because she sat up and swung her leg over him, making him lie down again. He propped himself up on his elbows. With one knee on the outside of each of his thighs, she knelt over him. “Like this my love,” she said gently. She spread herself apart with her left hand. With her right hand, she drew an invisible circle around the edges of that incredible place he’d just been inside of. 

She looked at him and smiled. Then she spiraled her fingers further inward, pressing away fold after fold, exposing her endless insides. They were dark pink and shining. After two or three revolutions she changed the pattern. She spread herself apart wider and made figure-eights from back to front. Her breath became more deliberate, like she was trying to stay in control…like he had been earlier. She never took her eyes off of him. Physical pleasure was a celebration, not a secret to her, and nothing to hide from. She reached down, took his hand, and brought it between her legs. He let her use it like a paintbrush, moving his fingers in and around her. She closed her eyes and smiled serenely. One spot was deep and warm and wet, and she pressed his fingers into her. That warm, fascinating fluid slid between his fingers and down her inner thighs. He crooked his finger and she jumped a little, then frowned. 

Not again. He should’ve quit while he was ahead. “No? Sorry.”

She smiled at him again, as if he were the only person in the world. Right now he’d do whatever she wanted as long as she kept looking at him like that. “Here,” she corrected and slid his wet fingertip to a spot much higher up. It was the place he’d found earlier. He barely touched her there and a small mass hardened and quivered. He added a second finger. Within seconds his fingers were soaked. She sighed loudly and she nearly lost her balance. She dropped his hand to steady herself on his chest. She leaned in and he brought his free hand to the back of her head. She kissed him and he continued to slide his fingers inside of her and then up and around that one place. He added one more finger. She trembled against his hips and pressed her mouth harder against his. Her hair draped over the sides of his face. She sucked his upper lip and then his tongue into her mouth. Her wetness flowed between his fingers, slid over his knuckles, into his palm, and down his wrist. 

He was going to be brave and try this. Curiosity got the better of him. He guided her to lay down again and trailed kisses all the way down her torso until he had to scoot himself back to reach her inner thighs. He was shaking again. This was so almost unbearably, utterly intimate. But she seemed to understand what he was thinking of. She spread her legs wider and splayed her knees out to the sides. She was giving him permission.

***

Steve was an artist. She remembered that when he took over for her own hand and stroked in and around her vagina. His medium was her wetness and she was the canvas. Then he entered her with a finger and kissed her. His finger was so close to her clitoris. He slipped his finger behind it and added another finger, then another one. She thought she would disintegrate, and at the same time it wasn’t quite enough. She was tempted to ask him to move his tongue inside of her, but she felt him hesitate earlier. 

So it was a lovely surprise when he did it after all. The tip of his tongue touched her outer labia and her whole body softened from the inside out. Then he circled around it with that same, light pressure, spiraling slowly toward the center and then back out again. It was maddening. She wanted more of his tongue and his lips over her entire sex. She wanted it to circle around her clitoris. Of course, she’d done this so many times with women on the island but it wasn’t the same. She wasn’t a goddess here. She wasn’t really a goddess at all anymore, just a woman being loved. The sentiment made her smile and moan softly.

Steve must have taken it as a sign of encouragement because then he did press harder. He pushed his fingers into the flesh of her inner thighs and flattened his tongue, lapping her from back to front and stopping to suck her clitoris between his lips. Her orgasm began to spiral from her clitoris, along her vulva, and fluttered into her entire body. “I’m so close, love. Oh great goddesses please don’t stop.”

***

She was fascinating from this angle. Her vagina consisted of so many little folds and hills. Right now it was completely wet. He circled his fingers around the way he’d seen her do it, and then, using every ounce of courage he had left, lowered his head and touched the very tip of his tongue to the outside of her sex. Her belly tensed and her thighs tightened and lifted off the bed for a moment. She didn’t say to stop, and she rested her hand on his head, so that was probably a good thing.

In the Army, the men would talk all the time about the way their women tasted, and he always found their descriptions—of both the act and the taste, somewhat revolting. But she clearly enjoyed this a lot, and honestly, it was turning him on again as well. Her taste and scent down here were very faint and a little bit sweet. Her hips rolled every time he got to that fleshy point toward the front of her vagina, the place that sent her into a tailspin when he touched it. He touched his mouth to that place also and her reaction was so strong he nearly came on her behalf. 

He pulled his head away to sneak a look at her. She was breathing heavily and with her free hand, she bunched up the blanket she was lying on. “You like that?” It was obvious, but never a bad thing to ask anyway.

“Please don’t stop,” she begged. She was begging him to lap at her and suck her up. Who knew he’d even be good at this? Probably she just inspired him. He dipped back down again as ordered. She was his muse now. “I’m going to do you later,” she moaned. 

He nearly pulled back again to reply. That can’t possibly be pleasant or taste good. For starters, he knew for a fact that he was a little larger than average, even before he was changed. It would feel bad, maybe even gag her. Also, there was no way that tasted good. Definitely the opposite of what he found inside of her. “I’m going to wrap my lips around your head and suck all the pre-ejaculate from it, and I’m going to put the tip of my tongue into that little groove right below it…the one that makes you shiver,” she gasped. It took her a few breaths to say the whole sentence. He opened his mouth wide and sucked as much of her in at once as he could. “Then I’m going to…oh…oh…I’m going to slide your entire erection into my mouth until it touches the back of my throat.” Steve thought he might die. He considered taking care of himself while he did this to her. He was beyond aroused right now. “I’m going to let you push into my mouth…oh Steve…and I’m going to swallow...” Her voice began to break and her hips now shook violently as she thrust herself against his tongue. She didn’t finish the sentence. He sucked her clitoris between his lips again and it suddenly hardened. She moaned again. He was beginning to crave that sound. Then she said, “Please come inside.” He was definitely going to crave that sentence forever.

He glided over her again and kissed her neck. She probably didn’t want to taste herself. She hooked one leg over his and flipped him onto his back. He smiled up at her and reached for that spot again. His hips rocked in time with hers. She lifted up again, moved his hand away, and interlaced her fingers in his. Their palms slid around one another’s until they gripped harder. Then she closed her eyes and lowered onto him until he was deep inside of her. They slowed down again, finding their pace. This time Steve was determined to watch all of it. He held onto her waist with his free hand and they moved steadily. Her breasts swayed in rhythm as she moved. She smiled euphorically and her skin practically glowed. He lifted further into her only when she pressed down on him. When he felt her clench him from the inside he gasped and concentrated harder on remaining in control of himself. 

She still moved evenly and languidly, pulling him into her over and over. As she tightened around him more and her breath quickened, she leaned forward, wriggled her fingers out of his, and braced her hands on his shoulders. She opened her eyes. He wanted to dive into them, swim all the way, down, and let her body consume him. She was smiling. He was too. He was making her smile. He was making her feel like this. She was amazing. This was amazing. They rocked a little faster, and then a little faster until they were both nearly breathless. She lifted up his length and squeezed tightly around him, then loosened the grip as she dropped back down. Her breasts bobbed slightly each time she came down. He pushed up as she landed. They never once took their eyes off of each other. Both of lost control little by little, gasping breathlessly until she called out his name and writhed over him. He finally let himself go when she slowed down again. The whole world except for her disappeared and he sighed her name. Then she collapsed against him and he held her close. He walked his fingers up and down her spine and she rested her head under his chin. “I love you,” she whispered into his heart. 

“I love you too. More than anything, Diana.”

They lay in a heap against each other on top of the blanket for a few moments. "What are you thinking about?" she asked. 

Steve grinned. He actually felt good right now in spite of everything. "Honestly? I was thinking that I was glad I bought the big box of rubbers instead of the three-pack." Diana laughed. It was a relief to hear her laugh. 

He spooned around her again a few moments later and pulled the blanket over them both. His heart thudded steadily into her back. They interlaced their fingers again. They were both spent: emotionally, mentally, and physically. Now they could sleep. It didn’t take her long to drift off. She seemed to drop into a sound, deep sleep within a few moments. He could barely keep his eyes open, himself. They were here, connected to each other. They were alive. They were finally confident in one another’s commitment. 

Steve yawned and lightly kissed Diana’s shoulder. She didn’t stir. She was out like a light. Which reminded him…he rolled onto his back as much as he could without disturbing her and managed to pull the cord on the light to turn it out. Even in the dark, even in this darkest day in the universe, they found each other. They found each other again and again, and even years and an alternate dimension didn’t change anything. The rest they’d figure out tomorrow. Somehow, he knew that they’d set the universe right. They would find a way. They found a way to each other, and together they’d somehow save everyone, somehow bring them back. Or they’d do everything in their considerable powers to try. They’d try. He couldn’t keep his eyes open anymore. He shut them and nestled his head against hers, into the long hair that splayed over the pillow and smelled like jasmine and sand. They’d make this okay somehow. Where there was love, and where there was life, there was always hope.


End file.
